Page 33 - BusinessWest December 8, 2021

Christina Royal says some students and potential students are stuck in state of what she called ‘paralysis,’ not knowing exactly what kind of career to prepare for.
especially older, non-traditional students, are those most impacted by the pandemic and its many side effects, from unemployment to issues with childcare to overall problems balancing life, work, and school.
While many have returned to the classroom, others have remained on the sidelines, and they are in a state of what Royal likened to paralysis, not knowing exactly what to do with their lives or even what course of study to embark upon. And this distinguishes what’s happening now in the economy from almost anything that has hap- pened before.
“A recession, as difficult as it is, is a predictable circumstance — and it has been up to this point,” she noted. “People are familiar with the ebbs and flows of the economy. What we’re dealing with now is fear, uncertainty, and the unknown.
“Now people are in a state of paralysis,” she went on. “And that fear, uncertainty, and the unknown is a driving factor for a lot of people; they feel stuck, they feel lost, and they don’t have a sense of even what they should be preparing for.”
She said these factors help explain why enroll- ment continues to decline at a time when logic says they should be rising based on previous performance. Indeed, community-college enroll- ment would normally rise when the country
is in recession or something close to it, when unemployment is still higher than average, and, especially, when businesses in every sector, from manufacturing to IT to healthcare, are facing a workforce crisis unlike anything seen before. And it would also be expected to rise when the cost
of four-year schools continue to soar and many parents are looking to community colleges as a
sound alternative for those first two years. Michelle Coach, campus CEO at Asnuntuck
Community College in Enfield, agreed. She said enrollment at ACC (one of 12 schools currently being merged into something called the Con- necticut State Community College), which hit its peak of just under 1,000 a few years ago, is now in the mid-700s for full-time equivalents, up from
a low of 650. The numbers are down for several reasons, including restrictions due to COVID that kept inmates from four prisons within just a few miles of the school from attending.
Even enrollment in the school’s popular manufacturing program, which has been sup- plying graduates to area plants in desperate need of workers, is down, she said, adding that many who would be applying are cautious and hesitant for all those reasons mentioned above.
Overall, many factors are contributing to the falling numbers, from COVID to smaller high- school graduating classes. The ongoing challenge for schools, Coach said, is to tap into new pools of students and consistently stress the value — in the many ways it can be defined — of a commu- nity-college education.
For this issue and its focus on education, Busi- nessWest talked with area community-college leaders about the present and, to the extent they can project, the future as well. In short, these administrators don’t know when, or to what to extent, things will return to normal.
Unsteady Course
As she talked about enrollment and the state of community colleges today, Royal, like the oth- ers we spoke with, reiterated that the declines in the numbers started well before COVID.
BusinessWest.comDailyNews THE BUSINESS JOURNAL OF WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS
Stay Up To Date With The Latest Business News
Delivered Straight To Your Inbox!
SUBSCRIBE TODAY!
www.businesswest.com/daily-e-news-2
Melanson specializes in top quality vaulation services coupled with meaningful and valuable business consulting services. Our team consists of both certified valuation analysts (CVAs) and certified public accountants (CPAs) who work closely with you, as well as your legal and banking representatives, on a variety of engagements.
Contact us today to find out how we can partner with you!
Buying or Selling Your Business?
You Need a Business Valuation.
Succession Planning • Increasing Value • Gift & Estate Taxation • Buy-Sell Agreements • Mergers & Acquisitions • Marital Dissolutions • Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP) • Shareholder Disputes • Chapter S Election • Purchase Price Allocations • Banking Relationships & SBA Loan Funding
Merrimack, NH | Andover, MA | Greenfield, MA | Ellsworth, ME 800.282.2440 | melansoncpas.com
EDUCATION
DECEMBER 8, 2021 33
Staff Photo
BusinessWest