Dive Brief:
- Facing the prospect of sagging enrollment numbers, some community colleges are taking proactive steps to reach out to prospective students and add value for local employers.
- At SUNY Broome Community College in Binghamton, NY, administrators analyzed local demographics and jobs data to determine which programs would best suit the community.
- Similarly, schools in Chicago and North Carolina have used data to analyze existing programs and grow new ones, according to University Business.
Dive Insight:
Right-sizing in higher ed is generally the idea that schools should slow growth instead of following the usual trend of continued expansion to accommodate more students and programs.
Market forces are generally responsible for the growth and decline of community and technical college enrollment figures, and students often turn to these schools for certifications and shorter programs that focus on job and skill training. Thanks to census and employment data, some community colleges are now able to pinpoint where job opportunities lie in their local communities and how they can best reach out to students to market their services.
STEM fields in particular are of interest to community colleges, as labor predictions point to growth in technical occupations, especially computer-related ones.
