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More Choose 2-Year Colleges: Tech Programs and Tuition Lure Students

Posted on: Thursday, 2 February 2006, 12:00 CST

By Kristen A. Graham and Frank Kummer, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Feb. 2--Take four-year colleges' dizzying tuitions and 18-year-olds' propensity to change their minds, and Kristin Beideman says it makes sense to steer an increasing number of students toward community colleges.

"I tell them, 'You end up with the same degree as everybody else, only you save your parents a boatload of money,' " said Beideman, a guidance counselor at Spring-Ford Area High School in Royersford, Montgomery County.

The percentage of high school seniors intending to enroll at two-year schools has increased throughout the region, an Inquirer analysis of data from the 2000-01 and 2004-05 school years shows. The percentage saying they planned on four-year schools stayed flat or dipped.

The trends are based on data from the New Jersey School Report Card released yesterday and information reported by area high schools for The Inquirer's annual Report Card on the Schools.

The rising cost of four-year schools and the draw of two-year technology programs are encouraging many students to choose community colleges first, experts say. A new New Jersey program that awards top students free tuition at community colleges may also be having an impact.

A proposal expected to come before the U.S. House this week could make it harder for students to pay for four-year schools. The measure would cut student-loan aid by $12.7 billion and lock in higher fixed interest rates on loans.

In South Jersey, the number of students who planned on two-year schools rose an average 8 percentage points from 2000-01 to 2004-05. The percentage plotting four-year courses dipped slightly.

In Philadelphia and its Pennsylvania suburbs, the percentage planning to enroll in two-year schools rose about four points. The percentage saying they were headed to four-year schools remained flat.

The rates are self-reported by the schools and gauge plans of seniors. But guidance counselors and education officials say they see a similar trend.

One veteran college president mused whether community colleges might become the norm as they shed their stigma.

"We're moving away from those old days when the community college was '13th grade' -- the place you went when you couldn't go anywhere else," said Phyllis Della Vecchia, president of Camden County College since 1993.

"This could be a reconfiguration of higher ed in this country," said Della Vecchia. "As community colleges get stronger, I think universities will focus on upper-division work, more specialized work, and graduate education."

Still, demand for four-year schools remains high. In Pennsylvania, enrollment for full-time, first-time degree-seeking freshmen is up. And in many high schools, more students opt for four-year schools.

But at Delsea Regional in Gloucester County and other schools, the percentage of students who planned on two-year colleges rose by double digits between 2000-01 and 2004-05.

At the Edison/Fareira School in Philadelphia, 32 percent of students said in 2000-01 that they planned to attend a two-year school. That rose to 70 percent last year.

Wealthy communities such as Haddonfield, in Camden County, and Tredyffrin-Easttown, in Chester County, not surprisingly have districts most likely to send students to four-year schools.

But community colleges are broadening their appeal to wealthy and middle-income districts. The percentage of students intending to attend two-year schools also rose by double digits at Cherry Hill High School West.

At Spring-Ford, the percentage of students planning on two-year schools rose by 18 percentage points, compared with 2 points for four-year colleges.

Beideman, the Spring-Ford counselor, noted that it was more convenient for students to attend Montgomery County Community College's new West Campus in nearby Pottstown. She also attributed the jump to vocational students who in years past might have gone straight into the workforce.

Many students are considering two-year colleges as four-year schools get more competitive, said Jim Riordan, director of guidance for Cherry Hill schools.

"Over the last five years, we have had a 31 percent jump in full-time enrollment for community colleges," said Jacob Farbman, spokesman for the New Jersey Council of County Colleges. "And most of those students are the first-time college student coming right out of high school."

The main reason: cost. Pennsylvania ranks highest and New Jersey second in average tuition and fees for four-year colleges, according to the College Board.

In New Jersey, the number of high school students taking advantage of NJ STARS, which covers community-college tuition and fees for students who graduate in the top 20 percent of their class, jumped 50 percent in its second year last year. In the fall, 1,731 first-time students were enrolled.

Michelle Lees, 19, of Stratford, is an elementary education major taking advantage of NJ STARS at Camden County College, which enrolls the most STARS students in the state. The 2004 graduate of Sterling Regional High School in Somerdale is the second of five children her parents will put through college.

"Well, I can go for free, and I can get ready to go away to college my last two years," said Lees, who said many Sterling classmates also had chosen Camden County. "I see pretty much everybody from my senior class. It's good if people aren't sure what to do with their futures."

Contact staff writer Kristen Graham at 856-779-3927 or kgraham@phillynews.com. To comment, or to ask a question, go to http://go.philly.com/askgraham.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Philadelphia Inquirer

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Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer

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