LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Colleges and universities nationwide are continuing to rebound from a dip in enrollment following the COVID-19 pandemic, but some classrooms are filling up faster than others.
Community and technical schools, like Bluegrass Community & Technical College (BCTC), are seeing much faster growth in enrollment than their traditional four-year counterparts.
BCTC's provost, Dr. Karen Mayo, shared that this fall, enrollment grew 10.8% from last year. In 2023, the college saw more than 12% growth.
The change follows a national trend. According to spring 2024 data from the National Student Clearinghouse Reasearch Center, enrollment growth at 2-year public colleges has been steadily climbing, growing 4.7% in a year.
That growth is outpacing the enrollment rebound for public four-year schools, which saw just a 1.5% increase in the spring.
Mayo said students are turning to options like community and technical schools because of the economic benefits.
"Everything costs more, right? And if you can get a good, quality education for a reasonable price, [that's] what we offer here at BCTC," Mayo said.
Those economic benefits come after graduation, as well. In-demand career fields like health care, or trades like welding, are seeking new employees right out of school with competitive wages.
BCTC accounting student, Andrea Roemers, said she originally started at a four-year school before realizing she belonged elsewhere.
"Before, it used to be that you could only go to big universities, but now, there are smaller, individualized programs that are popping up everywhere," Roemers said.
More high school students are enrolling at BCTC now, as well. Mayo added the school's dual-credit enrollment has surged, seeing an uptick of 25% this fall, as students work to earn college credit while still attending high school.
"I would say the number one interest is cost. It is a cost saver for high school students as well as all students that come to BCTC. Our tuition is lower than any of the other schools in Kentucky," Mayo said.
While two-year schools are seeing enrollment gains, it still has not been enough to make up for the decline they suffered during the pandemic.
According to NSCRC, total enrollment at public two-year schools surpassed 5.1 million students in spring 2019. In spring 2024, the research center reported a total enrollment of 4.4 million, which is still an improvement from 2022 and 2023.
