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Hard Times Are Driving People Back to School: Enrollment Rises As Many Retrain, Prepare for Future
Detroit Free Press
The way Matt Spurrier sees it, a troubled economy is the perfect time to head back to class.
The Pontiac man, who recently finished up five years in the Marines, is one of the many students who are driving up enrollment at metro Detroit community colleges and universities, despite concerns that shrinking paychecks would force students to head back home.
Instead, nearly every state university and several metro Detroit community colleges have seen an increased head count—preliminary totals that might slip slightly as the semester wears on, but are promising nonetheless.
At Oakland Community College, where enrollment has climbed 12.7% from last fall, Spurrier, 24, is taking classes that he plans to transfer to Oakland University for a 4-year degree in exercise science.
“I figure I can go spend the time looking for a job that I probably wouldn’t get right now in this economy,” he said, “or I can go to school, build up the resume, and — when things turn around again — I can step back into the job market and be more prepared.”
Michigan’s colleges continue to pack in students, despite earlier concerns about shrinking family budgets and increasing tuition.
Nearly every one of the state’s 15 universities have reported an enrollment increase this year, and metro Detroit’s community colleges are full, too.
“It’s the economy. Money is speaking,” said Ron Hughes, director of enrollment services at Macomb Community College, where enrollment jumped 6.2%, to 24,500 this year.
Among the biggest winners? Eastern Michigan University, which had been on a five-year enrollment slump. It was something that Sue Martin pledged to change when she became president last year after a string of leadership turnover, the mishandling of a murder case and a lawsuit between the former president and board members.
Under Martin’s watch, EMU ratcheted up its recruitment efforts, buying more billboards and radio spots. It enlisted more alumni to reach out to prospective students. And like many schools, it reached out to veterans who are in line for tuition and other benefits under the new, expanded GI Bill.
The efforts—in addition to the expansion and renovation of old buildings—paid off. This year, student head count jumped 4.3%, to 22,859, according to EMU officials.
“We’ve done a better job … of letting people know that Eastern is a good deal and a quality product,” Martin said.
And there was this: EMU was the first to set tuition rates this summer, raising its in-state, undergraduate tuition by just 3.8%—lower than any other state university.
That made an impact for students like Ryan Vaughan, 18, a music education major. He looked elsewhere, weighing programs and campus size. A high school teacher mentioned EMU’s tuition decision, helping to finalize his decision.
“There are a lot of reasons to choose Eastern,” Vaughan said. “It came down to money.”
EMU wasn’t the only school worried about numbers.
Earlier this year, financial-aid requests and Michigan’s unemployment numbers continued to climb at the same time the college-age population across the United States began to shrink. Additionally, employers ended tuition-reimbursement programs and cut back training.
Admissions officials worried economic woes would drive university students to schools closer to home or to community colleges. In turn, community college students might drop out altogether.
If that migration happened, you can’t tell it in the housing numbers: Officials at several schools say their waiting lists for housing are as long as ever.
Wayne State University also reversed an enrollment downturn, albeit briefer than EMU’s, by increasing financial aid and boosting academic support for struggling students. This fall, 76% of last year’s freshman class is returning, compared with just under 70% the previous year, said Howard Shapiro, associate vice president for undergraduate programs.
Some simply have little choice but to go to school, officials said.
At Wayne County Community College, older workers are rushing to retrain for new careers in areas such as green technology and health sciences, driving up head count 16.5%, to 25,092 students, said John Bolden, executive vice chancellor.
The economy — rather than pricing students out of education — drives them into it, said Lynn Blue, vice provost and dean of academic services and information technology at Grand Valley State University.
“You almost have to think that if colleges are full, it must be that education ranks pretty high in the family budget,” she said.
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