WARWICK – Community College of Rhode Island can handle an influx of students if the college sees that come September, however it is still too early to tell how enrollment will look given how the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a lot of uncertainty for prospective college students, CCRI Vice President of Student Affairs Sara Enright told Providence Business News Wednesday.
A report by research group Eduventures released Monday predicts that community colleges could see an enrollment spike in the fall. Among the reasons the report noted is that there is uncertainty of what the college experiences would look like once campuses reopen in the fall after closing this spring due to the pandemic. The report also noted that some students may see a four-year college could be too expensive to attend, therefore opting to go to the more-affordable community college route.
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Enright said CCRI can take on higher enrollment, noting the college was in a similar position back in 2008 and 2009 at the height of the Great Recession where enrollment increased “pretty dramatically” at the time. In the 2018-19 academic year, CCRI had 28,171 students, with 5,756 of them being full-time students, according to the 2020 PBN Book of Lists.
“I think we have north of 300 full-time faculty members and we have also have north of 600 part-time faculty members,” Enright said. “Our academic affairs team is certainly planning to having to go deep into our bench as we need to be prepared to offer classes that our students need and want.”
Enright also said CCRI is more accustomed to “ebbs and flows” with its enrollment and can adjust its class offerings accordingly, including adding more classes in August if needed. She also said that the college will have a “busy summer” to help students get necessary needs – financial aid, technology support – to attend the school as the enrollment period will be compressed between July and August.
When asked if CCRI is expecting an enrollment increase next year, Enright said “maybe,” but the pandemic has made both current and prospective students have to weigh a lot of factors in deciding on whether or not to attend college.
“The challenges of being home with several family members, maybe being home worrying about housing insecurity,” Enright said. “I think with the amount of complexity in people’s lives, we’re seeing more and more people delay the decision around higher education.
“I think that’s true for recent high school graduates who many of whom plan to go to four-year institution and have one vision. But, now they are seeing as the days unfold that they vision that they had would not be realized at any college this fall.”
The “majority” of classes to be offered at CCRI next fall will be online, Enright said, but the college is still working on what that will look like. There are also discussions to be had on possibly having hybrid classes, where students can take the same class either in person or online, Enright said.
Enright also said she believes that the Rhode Island Promise program, which allows qualifying students the chance to earn an associate degree from CCRI tuition-free, will not be impacted with the state tackling an approximately $800 million budget hole to fill that was caused by the pandemic.
“I think we’d be quite surprised if the state backed off of the final year of it,” she said. “I think Rhode Island Promise is a go forward and students have put in the work to complete high school. I think that the state is going to be there to support the continuation of their education.”
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
