Michigan Community Colleges See Decline in Summer Enrollment

Michigan community colleges are seeing a decline in summer enrollment, an indication of what’s to come in the fall, reports the Detroit Free Press.

Summer sessions begin as early as the first week in May with many following at the end of May.  

As an example of what the state’s 28 community colleges are facing, the Detroit Free Press looked at Washtenaw Community College. WCC will begin their summer term on May 8 with all classes online only. On March 12, WCC saw a 11% decrease in registration for summer classes compared to the same time last year. On April 3, after the college announced it would be online only, registrations were down 36.5% from last year’s number. By April 15, enrollment was down by 26% overall.

The hardest hit programs by the enrollment drop are geared toward a skilled trade like culinary or welding, which are difficult to teach online. Some of those classes have been canceled.

WCC is projected to lose nearly $2 million from this fiscal year from summer tuition revenue. The school is also anticipating loses from state aid.

About the Author

Yvonne Marquez is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Campus Safety Requires Using Every Resource Available

    Across the U.S., school and campus leaders are facing a security landscape that has changed dramatically over the past decade. Incidents on school property have increased in recent years, with several consecutive years setting record totals. According to analysis of data by CNN, dozens of shootings now occur on school grounds annually across K-12 and higher education environments.

  • Planning with Clarity: Using AI to Make Better Campus Decisions, Not Just Better Designs

    Higher education leaders are being asked to make increasingly high-stakes decisions about campus facilities amid greater uncertainty than ever before. Social and economic pressures, shifting enrollment, and evolving learning models compete with growing deferred maintenance needs to strain even the most robust infrastructure budgets.

  • CU-Lock Haven Receives $1.75M Gift for New Entrepreneurship, Media Center

    Commonwealth University-Lock Haven in Lock Haven, Penn., recently received a $1.75-million donation from entrepreneur and alumnus Nicholas Subich ’17, according to a university news release. The funds will go toward establishing the Nicholas Subich Center for Entrepreneurship and Media, a technology-driven hub for innovation and experiential learning.

  • Quattrocchi Kwok Architects Opens New Office in Denver

    Education planning and design firm Quattrocchi Kwok Architects (QKA) recently announced that it has opened a new office in Denver, Colo., the firm’s third overall. QKA is headquartered in Santa Rosa, Calif., and runs an East Bay Area office in Oakland.