Community Colleges Stretched Tight After Budget Cuts as Enrollment Jumps

Coahoma Community College only had 3.3 percent of its budget cut, but the state's largest two-year schools are losing much more money.

Last week’s budget cuts to the state’s community colleges are hitting some schools harder than others, even as enrollment continues to soar. MPB’s Cari Gervin reports.

Community college enrollment traditionally goes up when the economy goes down, and this fall is no exception.

Preliminary numbers show 14,500 more students are taking classes at Mississippi’s 15 two-year colleges this fall. And most of those schools already had double-digit enrollment increases last year.

And that’s good news for the smaller schools, like Mississippi Delta Community College, based in Moorhead. Spokesperson Corey Smith said this fall’s extra 500 students will offset the statewide educational budget cuts announced last week, since the school will get extra state funding for its new students.

“We are not cutting instructors, we are not cutting staff, we are not cutting back on our course offerings or anything like that at all.”

But for bigger schools, like Itawamba Community College, the budget cuts are a big deal. The school had almost 9 percent of its budget cut, just over a million dollars.

President David Cole says there won’t be any layoffs. But with a 15 percent enrollment increase, he’s not sure just how far cuts in travel and energy costs will go.

“But if there are further cuts that dig deeper into the appropriation, then, yes, conceivably there is a point where tuition would have to be increased.”

Eric Clark hopes that doesn’t have to happen. He’s the Executive Director of the State Board for Community and Junior Colleges, and he says that more tuition doesn’t cover everything.

“What we have to do is we have to make the leadership of our state understand that increases in enrollment require more funding for us to be able to adequately educate and train those students.”

Governor Barbour cut the state’s education funding by 5 percent last Thursday. The cuts to the 15 community colleges vary depending on their enrollment, from 3.3 percent at Coahoma Community College to nearly 14 percent at Hinds Community College.

For MPB News, I’m Cari Gervin.