Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 21, 1994 TAG: 9405230130
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
The percentage of full-time students in 1993 was the highest in a decade at 28 percent, though overall enrollment dropped slightly.
``More people perceive them as viable transfer institutions'' for people eventually seeking a four-year degree, said Anne-Marie McCartan, vice chancellor for the state community college system, which prepared the study. ``I don't think that's purely coincidental, when the cost of senior institutions has gone up so much.''
Annual tuition at two-year schools in 1993-94 was $1,320, nearly one-third the cost of tuition at a four-year, state-supported school.
The report released Thursday said:
For the first time, students are evenly divided between academic courses of study and vocational degrees. Previously, thousands more students were enrolled in vocational programs.
Ninety-three percent of students last fall were returning students. That compares with 76 percent in 1988.
The report also showed that after a few years of growth, enrollment at community colleges dropped in the last two years. Enrollment grew 4 percent from 128,195 in 1989 to 133,662 in 1991, but it fell 3 percent to 130,037 last fall.
A greater proportion of the colleges' students are minorities, statistics show. Minorities made up 24 percent of the student body last fall, up from 19 percent in 1989.
McCartan said the main reason for the overall decline in enrollment is a drop in high school graduates statewide. But she also cited the rise in community-college tuition, which has gone up 44 percent in the past five years.
``It's the sticker-shock effect,'' she said.
by CNB