<p>I assumed they were doing well, as it's a cheaper alternative to other colleges. Tuition is $3,672/year.</p>
<p>In the fall of 2009, they had 23,606 students. Now they only have 12,577. The state is putting them on fiscal watch and we might have to have a tax levy to help them. </p>
<p>Is this happening in any other parts of the country? Has anyone had a tax levy to bail out a community college?</p>
<p>Wow, that’s crazy. I have never lived in Toledo but I have passed through it and it always seemed like a bustling area. I’m surprised that enrollment has fallen so far that the community college is having viability issues despite such a high population.</p>
<p>A 5-year drop like that is extremely unusual. There are a lot of factors that contribute to enrollment numbers: the economy, competition, changes in mission, curriculum, or transferability, changes in local population numbers or demographics, etc.</p>
<p><a href=“With enrollment low, stakes are high, a community college learns”>https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/07/17/enrollment-low-stakes-are-high-community-college-learns</a></p>
<p>This is a huge problem at many community colleges. The recession brought about a massive artificial increase in enrollment (California readers might remember that at the peak of the recession hundreds of thousands of prospective CC students were being turned away), which greatly boosted Pell derived revenue. Now that the unemployment rate has plummeted and people aren’t seeking retraining and/or a degree, they, and their Pell dollars, are not coming to the CC. </p>
<p>Wow! This is news to me. Around here CC’s are bursting at the seams. Of course we haven’t seen big pickups in decent employment either. Many who are looking for a secure job are going to community colleges to pursue a career in healthcare. It does seem to be the best alternative to working at the Old Navy. </p>
<p>THAT, is indeed news to me. The CCs around here seem to be doing well, as are a number of the ones I know. What is the competitions around there in terms of inexpensive community colleges, directional state universities and other colleges? </p>
<p>I don’t believe that CCs are going to thrive on the traditional degree seeking student. They are not the majority at the CCs I know. CCs have certificate programs, offer flexible part time courses, some vocation and remedial courses, community relevant non credit courses, night/weekend programs, not just prep for transfer to a 4 year degree. That may be a reason for this school’s decline, if they are not serving those markets. </p>
<p>Your CC is a huge school–does it have satellite campuses and facilities scattered in a lot of places? It’s hard to keep track of all of that.</p>
<p>My son and his cousin both got awards that would have made it less expensive for them to commute to a local private college (and in case of the cousin, also a directional state uni) than to go the CC route as they both got merit money from those others schools. The locales of the alternatives were very close to the home, so commuting would have been easier, even if their local CCs did offer them full rides. </p>
<p>I have seen wonderful certificate programs that CCs have offered as well as any number of courses for any number of reasons. I am interested in knowing why this CC is failing.</p>
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<p>The name of our community college is Owens Community College. We have one directional univerisity, whose enrollment is down 11% since 2010, and a private university, down 22% since 2010.</p>
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<p>There are only two campuses. </p>
<p>I thought our cc was doing just fine. I had no idea things were so bad.</p>
<p>I did a little Googling. Owens experienced a lot of growth after 1994, when it expanded its mission. In 2009, there was a huge enrollment bump of 24%. This was consistent with national enrollment increases experienced when the economy tanked, and it was probably preceded by a few years of smaller enrollment growth.</p>
<p>I suspect that what you’re seeing now is a massive correction. A lot of CCs experienced some correction when the economy picked up. Many schools fall near the center of the bell curve. Some are at the edges. It looks like Owens is one of those. Their financial mistake may have been a failure to realize that their growth was temporary. Some schools planned for that and some did not. Owens has three years to make adjustments. They’ll probably be all right.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure my local Community College is doing very well. The have some exciting partnerships with local high tech companies like Sematech, IBM and especially with the Global Foundaries new nano chip fab. which is attracting students. </p>
<p>Is your area losing population? </p>
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<p>I think we’ve had a one or two percent drop in population, which wouldn’t make that much of a difference.</p>
<p>whenhen’s link points out that communitiy colleges boomed in the recession and now many are struggling.</p>
<p>Down in Dayton, Sinclair CC is building more. They’ve struck up some relationships with high tech companies in the area for things like UAVs. What kinds of businesses does Toledo have moving in?</p>
<p>I am in the Detroit area, and our cc’s are doing very well. My friend works at a satellite cc up north that is having enrollment issues, but it seems to be tied to tuition that is too high for the area (another cc swooped in with lower tuition) and course schedules that don’t suit the schedules of a working student body. It is possible for poor management to put a cc in dire straights even when there is a population that would attend if things were better. I don’t have any idea if that is the case at Owens, of course. It just may be that there are fewer students in the area who want to go to cc. But I am guessing Ohio is much like Michigan, and there are more people in Michigan going to cc now than there were in the past … the need to cut costs as much as possible is driving them there.</p>
<p>Our local CCs all seem to be bustling and having a tough time finding enough space and teachers for all the students who want to enroll. Our Respiratory Therapy program sometimes gets students who have PhDs who are looking to switch careers! Our CC program is much less expensive than our flagship U and you can take most of our courses at the CC and still get diploma from flagship U.</p>
<p>If the community college to the south of us, and the communitiy college to the north of us, are doing well, ours should try and figure out what they’re doing wrong. Giving them more money (levy) isn’t the answer. With the local high school and the roads, I’m “levied” out. </p>
<p>I wonder if it has anything to do with the “incentives” a few years back (right around that growth spurt in 2009) to offer as I remember, “free” tuition to Toledo’s public school students. That coupled with some of the local 4 year universities doing the same - lots of promises of free or reduced tuition costs - maybe it has fired back. Not sure if this boosted enrollment and was a help or if it was a financial hindrance. Staff wise, they seem to take advantage of a large % of part time staff/instructors. I think that a good majority of us locals were quite surprised at this news this week. </p>
Hi. Let me provide some insight. I worked at occ for ten years. From 2004-2010 things were great there. However, there are a ton of labor issues and lawsuits from employees. Average two lawsuits a year. Then in 2011 occ lost their nursing accreditation. The college went downhill. Since nursing was the only focus of leadership, everything else was neglected. Mass layoffs followed every year. Enrollment declined. Leadership changed every six months. No strategic plans or goals. Etc. I heard they are struggling to pay bills like garbage and utility. Students are treated like a number and employee morale is bad