The fall semester enrollment numbers are generally good for Mississippi’s eight public universities, but they are a concern for most of the state’s 15 community colleges.
A report just out said the number of students at the universities is up 2.5 percent from a year ago. Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Jackson State and Mississippi University for Women reported their highest enrollments ever. And Mississippi Valley State posted the state’s second highest percentage increase at 8.4 percent, trailing only The W in that ranking. This is the third straight annual increase for MVSU, after previously seeing its enrollment decline to the point where it was at risk of becoming unsustainable as a stand-along university.
Systemwide, it’s believed that part of the enrollment jump can be attributed to attracting more students from other states. That’s also good news. Non-Mississippi residents who spend eight or nine months a year at a university have a positive effect on the economy.
Enrollment at the two-year schools, though, continued a decline that dates back to 2010. All told, the 15 community colleges have about 1 percent fewer students this year than they did a year ago.
The decline was not a shock. Community college enrollment spiked eight years ago when the Great Recession eliminated many jobs and people flocked to two-year schools for retraining. As the job market has steadied itself, many of those retrained are now in the work force. This understandably reduces community college numbers.
Enrollment at Mississippi Delta Community College, by the way, was 2,372 for the fall semester – a decline of 4 percent.
University numbers on the rise while community college numbers decline leads to two concerns: Is any of the university growth coming at the expense of less-expensive community colleges? And does rising university enrollment mean that more students will face a problem with excessive debt when they graduate?
Although no one has said that community colleges are losing students to universities, the two trends make the concern inevitable.
The primary goal of any college, two-year or four-year, should be to make sure its students get an education that teaches them to think critically and that prepares them for the 21st century work force. However, the country’s trend of rising student debt can no longer be ignored.
Rising enrollments at universities in Mississippi are a good thing. And there are plenty of programs such as Pell Grants that have helped untold numbers of students – at both universities and community colleges.
But coaxing students or families into excessive debt is no way to get young people started on their lifetime of work. Universities in particular must take care to avoid promoting this trap.
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