Minnesotans cram into colleges

The high school graduate, the out-of-work and the just-plain-nervous are crowding classrooms at your local community college.

Enrollment has grown by double digits at 13 community and technical colleges in Minnesota, boosting the biggest jump in the public system's history.

New figures show that this fall, the number of students in Minnesota State Colleges and Universities is up 6.8 percent over last year. The University of Minnesota on Thursday reported a freshman class increase of about 300 students, or 5.8 percent.

The figures show a "strategic" response to the recession, said U provost Thomas Sullivan.

Experts expected the influx, which is playing out across the nation.

"From every data point we have, this is a banner year in higher education enrollment," said Terry Hartle, senior vice president at the American Council on Education.

The federal government won't release total fall enrollment figures until spring, but the council expects that the number of students enrolled has hit 18.5 million -- up 2 million from just two years ago.

The rush comes as struggling states cut their funding for higher education, leaving public systems to educate more students with less money.

In Minnesota, colleges scrambled to open courses and add sections to accommodate students. They hired part-time faculty, scheduled classes late into the night and, when rooms got too full, scouted off-campus spots to hold class.

"I'm sure glad we finished our new parking lot," joked Nancy Livingston, spokeswoman for Century College in White Bear Lake.

Mike Bruner, vice president of student services at Century, is proud of the way his school has stretched and scrimped to educate 1,105 -- or 11.8 percent -- more students than last fall. But he worries about providing enough support services for them, he said.

"That's the biggest challenge for any college when you receive this kind of increase in enrollment," he said. "We're doubling our efforts."

Packing the parking lots

The recession brought Jackilyn Kane, 22, to Anoka Technical College, where she's studying to be a legal administrative assistant and hoping to "quit working for minimum wage."

Upon picking out classes, it became clear she wasn't the only student with that idea. Each course she clicked on was full. In the end, an adviser got her into the classes she needed, and she loves the work. But she hasn't heard back from the financial aid office, and parking's a pain.

Students, faculty and administration have come together to solve many of the problems posed by adding students on top of budget cuts, said Gloria Mitchell, student senate president at Anoka Tech. "Everyone's been pitching in."

Nationwide, community colleges have lopped off programs with low enrollment and added ones with high demand, said Hartle, calling them "extraordinarily flexible and responsive institutions."

"This is really the sort of environment in which the community college shines," he said.

But he, Mitchell and others are concerned that in the long run, educating more students with less public funding will lead to extraordinary tuition increases and a lower-quality education.

"The funding systems that worked pretty well to educate an elite segment of the population," Hartle said. "They don't look so good when we're trying to serve 18.5 million college students."

Enrollment grows all over

St. Cloud Technical College saw big increases in students ages 26 to 35.

"The economy is playing a huge part in this," said Vicki Apel, vice president of institutional advancement. "People are looking at tightening up their skills to keep their jobs or make themselves more marketable.

But systemwide, it's not just people returning to get re-trained.

The numbers show enrollment growing in all areas -- high school students taking college courses, people taking online courses, recent high school grads and students of color.

St. Cloud State's enrollment jumped 4.5 percent overall, with an 8 percent increase in graduate students.

The University of Minnesota admitted more freshmen, but they also admitted a hefty number of transfer students, as well. This fall, 2,508 transfer students enrolled, compared with 1,843 in 2008. Many of those students are coming from the state and community colleges, Sullivan said.

The number of U students returning for their sophomore year also hit a record high -- 90.6 percent -- a fact that got high praise and a smattering of applause from its Board of Regents at a meeting Thursday.

"This is a fabulous new historic high," Sullivan said.

Jenna Ross • 612-673-7168