TheEdisonAcademy

Community College Soars in Popularity

By Kali Schumitz - Published Article
Source: Fairfax County Times
Tuesday, September 1 2009

A convergence of economic factors has caused a surge in the student population of Northern Virginia Community College over the past few semesters.

“Enrollment has been increasing since last fall,” said Robert Templin, president of the community college.

NVCC now has about 72,000 students enrolled at its six campuses and two educational centers, which is at least a 10 percent increase from fall 2008, when enrollment had already grown by 4 percent since fall 2007.

The college’s budget was cut twice during that same period, amounting to a drop of more than 10 percent since fall 2008. More cuts may come down the line as the state faces another $1.5 billion revenue shortfall.

“It makes it really tough to keep things together,” Templin said. “But, we haven’t closed off access to education.”

While other positions were cut, the college increased the number of teachers and financial aid staff — a smart move, Templin said, as the number of students applying for financial aid has nearly doubled in the past year.

To help ensure that the college remains open to anyone who wants to attend, the number of students in each class is up slightly. The school is also offering some classes as early as 6:30 a.m. and accepting more students into online courses.

Pam Shibli, 22, of Gainesville is in her third semester at NVCC and said she has definitely noticed that the Annandale campus is more crowded this year.

“The garage is sometimes packed and the classes have more people in them,” she said. “But the teaching is the same.”

Since Shibli is paying for college herself by using student loans and working while attending classes, NVCC was a much more affordable option for her.

“A university like [George] Mason was probably double the cost,” she said. “I guess it’s the best option for a lot of people.”

Value and proximity are also what caused Elishia Sponga, 17, of Fairfax, to choose the community college. She plans to transfer to a four-year university after completing two years.

“I couldn’t afford a university for four years,” she said.

While only in her first semester on campus, Sponga also thinks NVCC is handling the surge in students just fine.

In addition to growth in the number of traditional students seeking a more affordable option for higher education, Templin said the college is also seeing “a significant increase” in the number of adults returning to college — people who have been laid off as well as those who still have jobs and want to strengthen their position in the workplace.

Some retirees are also going back to class for retraining, in case they find they need to go back into the workplace. And, the college accepts its typical crop of local residents who are taking courses for fun.
“We have all these different kinds of students coming all at the same time,” Templin said.

Despite some positive signs in the national economy, college officials are not expecting the growth to slow down anytime soon.

“Incomes and the labor market are the last things to rebound,” Templin said. “Our feeling is we still have another year and a half of growth.”