MWCC President Feeling ‘Optimistic’ After Uptick in Enrollment
By Elysian Alder | Editor-in-Chief
After a decade of precipitous declines in enrollment, Massachusetts community colleges are now poised to experience an enrollment resurgence, signaling the potential for positive developments in higher education institutions across the state. Mount Wachusett Community College, in particular, has already begun to see the results of this shift. “We put a budget together to be perhaps down 6%, and we’re up 12%,” explained MWCC President James Vander Hooven. “So it’s an 18% swing in our budget and 12% increase in students.”
This increase follows the implementation of Gov. Maura Healey’s recently signed $55.98 billion state budget for Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24). The budget includes significant investments in various sectors, including education, housing, workforce development, public transit, health and human services, child care, and other critical areas of public life for Massachusetts residents. The FY24 state budget plan introduced several programs within these sectors to address previously unsupported or underrepresented facets. One such initiative is MassReconnect, a program that aims to eliminate costs for individuals aged 25 or older who have graduated from high school but lack higher education, enabling them to obtain an associate degree or certificate through any public community college, tuition-free.
“It was the first time I was able to think about going back to college in a long time. When you have a bunch of ‘adult’ bills to consider, the debt can be a huge factor in those decisions, especially if you’re not sure what you want to study. It was cool to have the state funding help eliminate some of that uncertainty,” said Vana Mangiarelli, a first-year professional writing major at the Mount.
In the past, faculty members and staff at the Mount were actively involved in outreach to local K-12 schools. They took part in in-person events, such as college fairs, to represent the college and connect with students to encourage enrollment. These efforts were temporarily paused during the pandemic but have now resumed. “We begin that outreach for students when they’re freshman, or when they’re sophomores and juniors,” explained President Vander Hooven. “I would say that played a big role in our increase this fall—being able to get back out to in-person events, to being able to actually spend time in the high schools. […] Those opportunities where we actually bus students into the college for events. I’m feeling very optimistic about the future, based on [the enrollment office staff’s] ability to do the outreach that they haven’t been able to do for quite some time.”
With MassReconnect targeting an older demographic, however, the staff at the Mount has had to market the college by using social media, radio advertising, and utilizing statewide marketing campaigns in partnership with other community colleges to spread the word. “The number of inquiries from that population leads me to believe that they’re getting the message. In fact, we started receiving inquiries from prospective students prior to the budget even being passed,” shared President Vander Hooven.
The Mount has also been conducting virtual information sessions that aim to provide an overview of the MassReconnect program and address any inquiries participants had regarding the program and the college experience at the Mount. Mangiarelli, who attended the August 9th session, said, “You could tell the hosts were really excited about the program and the value it brought to the new demographic, myself included. And we had an open forum where we could ask questions, which was great for putting my mind at ease when it came to the financial aid process and the specifics of what we could study. People asked some really great, detailed questions–like some asked about specific majors, or how certificates worked, or about immigration and degrees from overseas, and the MWCC staff was able to give us all a rundown of how the program would work for us.”
“I believe that the impact of MassReconnect is going to be even more fully felt in the spring semester and perhaps even more so next fall,” speculated President Vander Hooven.
Back in 2021-2022, the MTA Legislative Agenda advocated for the passage of the Cherish Act, aimed at establishing a more stable budget determined by the Board of Higher Education. The Cherish Act also encompassed provisions to create possibilities for hiring additional full-time educators and enhancing working conditions for underpaid adjuncts and professional staff. Although the Cherish Act is still pending, President Vander Hooven reassured that even without that funding, the increase in enrollment has not disrupted the learning experience. “We were definitely prepared for the increase that we saw this fall, at least from a faculty perspective.”
By using the data acquired from the fall enrollment increase, President Vander Hooven explained that Mount Wachusett Community College staff have already begun adjusting class offerings and schedules to accommodate the needs of the college community, particularly keeping in mind the demographic aged 25 years and older. “That data is actually driving the creation of our spring semester,” he said, going on to explain that up until this year, the Mount has only ever held one orientation session in the morning, but this year, they held one in the morning, and one in the evening. “Recognizing that we’re dealing with a different population of students—we should have been doing more of that in the past. It wasn’t just the announcement of MassReconnect that should have prompted us. But COVID shined a light on the disparity of what we were offering. So we’ve already started to take steps towards creating more academic schedules that work for the diversity of our students.”
A study by the Pioneer Institute found that enrollment at Massachusetts community colleges has dropped a steep 32.61% over the past decade, but with initiatives like Gov. Healey’s state budget, Mass Reconnect, and the Cherish Act on the horizon, college officials are finding themselves with renewed hope. “I think that MassReconnect is a huge step forward to where the State will need to recognize its role in supporting students to achieve that ultimate educational path,” said President Vander Hooven. “I’m really excited about the way the fall semester has gotten started, and we look forward to seeing the growth that this can bring about.”
Comments are closed.