WARWICK – Passage of the Rhode Island Promise Scholarship led more than 1,400 first-time, full-time students to enroll at the Community College of Rhode Island for the fall 2017 term according to a statement made Monday by the school.
As reported previously by Providence Business News, CCRI initially expected 1,200 first-time, full-time students to enroll as a result of the scholarship but that number was eclipsed. Will the increased student body mean a more expensive term for CCRI?
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The 1,478 first-time, full-time students who signed up through the Rhode Island Promise Scholarship are reflected in the total headcount for the fall semester – 14,758, a 4.9 percent increase from fall 2016 term figures and a 47 percent bump in first-time, full-time students.
A CCRI spokesman said the first-time, full-time figure reflects Sept. 25 data and may still rise with the processing of student financial aid applications.
Rhode Island’s program is in line with similar moves to make education more affordable in other states including Tennessee and New York.
Yet, Rhode Island’s program was enacted in a more rushed manner than others, said CCRI President Meghan Hughes in a statement. She outlined that the Tennessee program began to enroll students after a year of planning commenced and was launched with the aid of marketing money. The results, a 25 percent increase in first-time, full-time students, she said, were almost half what CCRI experienced with little aid.
“Our college had only one month, and no extra marketing money, and we experienced a nearly 50 percent increase. This is a tremendous win for our college and for our state,” said Hughes in her statement.
Rhode Island Promise Scholarship was launched a month after legislation approving the scholarship was passed by the General Assembly. Prospective students were enrolled as late as Aug. 10 and 17 – two enrollment days hosted by the community college to help alleviate the added interest.
Paying for the ballooned student body, said Sara Enright, vice president for student affairs and chief outcomes officer, won’t be an issue.
Students who enrolled because of the Rhode Island Promise Scholarship mark a trend reversal for the school, said Enright, which has witnessed declining enrollment as the labor market has improved over the past five years and “fewer people feel compelled to pursue higher education.”
She explained CCRI will offer more sections of math, English and “popular first-semester courses” in line with the burgeoning student body but the school had the faculty in place to cover such a curriculum load.
“It puts us back at full classrooms,” said Enright adding the school hired four new advising and counseling staff to meet demand.
Enright is most excited by the increase in full-time students, which she hopes will help rebuild the on-campus community by studying in the library, eating lunch on campus and joining clubs.
There has been growth in terms of “serving this population, but we have the capacity to do so,” she said.
Enacted by Gov. Gina M. Raimondo earlier this summer, the Rhode Island Promise Scholarship is an attempt by the state to make college education more affordable for Rhode Island high school graduates and GED recipients. Participants can receive a CCRI associate’s degree tuition-free through the program as long as they enroll full time, maintain a 2.5 GPA, earn 30 credits per year and enroll each semester for two years.
Emily Gowdey-Backus is a staff writer for PBN. You can follow her on Twitter @FlashGowdey or contact her via email, gowdey-backus@pbn.com.
