State turns to two-year colleges to house enrollment boom

The University System of Georgia expects to enroll between 400,000 and 450,000 students within the next decade and has to find space for the nearly 100,000 additional students.

Chancellor Erroll B. Davis Jr. said much of the growth must be handled by the state’s two-year colleges. These colleges are cheaper to operate and can quickly add programs and make other changes, officials said.

The challenge is persuading students to attend a two-year college when many think of the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech as their only options. The solution, Davis said, can be found at Atlanta Metropolitan College.

The two-year college used to have a declining enrollment but is now setting records after focusing on students and academics. Fall enrollment at the southwest Atlanta college is 2,688 students, an increase of about 60 percent since 2006.

"People don’t get that two-year colleges are the next frontier," President Gary McGaha said. "We are the institution of choice for many. There are many Atlantans who can’t get admitted to or don’t want to go to UGA or Tech but still want to go to college.”

The college’s transformation can be traced to November 2006, when McGaha, then vice president for academic affairs, wrote to students asking whether the college was meeting their needs.

Students said they wanted more classes in science, math and technology and more flexible class times. McGaha cut about a dozen administrative positions and moved $400,000 to academics to hire faculty, develop online courses and offer more classes at night and on the weekends.

The college began an aggressive marketing campaign, putting up billboards and advertising on MARTA buses. College officials spoke at church meetings and college fairs and invited students and parents to campus.

Tony Smith was planning to go to Georgia State University until he heard about AMC on the radio. Smith, 28, was in the military for about six years and decided it would be cheaper and better academically to start at a two-year college.

“At first I thought I might have been selling myself short by coming to a two-year college,” Smith said. “But I’m surprised by how much I’m getting. Classes are small. Professors are friendly and knowledgeable. You feel proud to be here.”

About half of all students start at two-year colleges, according to federal statistics. The nation’s 1,177 community colleges enroll about 11.7 million students, according to the American Association of Community Colleges.

Sixteen of the state university system's 35 colleges focus on two-year associate degrees. The cost of running these colleges makes them a good place to accommodate growth -- which is tied to a baby boom, people moving to Georgia and jobs demanding more highly educated employees.

The state spends about $4,000 to teach a student at a two-year college compared with about $12,000 on a student at a research college, such as UGA or Tech, said Rob Watts, chief operating officer of the University System.

Two-year college faculty are not required to have doctorates, so the schools don't have to pay as much to hire a professor, Watts said. Also, two-year colleges don’t have to provide the extensive and expensive laboratories and libraries that upperclassmen and graduate students need.

Watts also said two-year colleges are not as tied to traditions, giving them the flexibility to adapt to an influx of students.

Community colleges are considered access colleges in that they give more students a chance at higher education. Many of their students struggled in high school. About 41 percent of AMC students are taking remedial classes this fall.

Jasmine Lemons, 21, enrolled as a part-time student and hopes to finish in 2012. She said professors are quick to offer extra help.

“You don’t feel bad saying you didn’t get something or that you need extra help,” Lemons said. “Some of us didn’t learn everything we should have in high school, but that doesn’t mean we don’t want to go to college.”

During a recent study session, biology professor Sandra Demons told students to "go deeper" and made them explain why something was true if they regurgitated what was in the textbook.

“I won’t dummy down my class,” said Demons, who has been at the college for more than 30 years. "This is not about holding their hands. But when they fall I will hold out my hand to pull them back up.”

That personal connection is a key part of what will attract students to the college and its future campuses, McGaha said.

The college opened a location in downtown Atlanta earlier this year, and McGaha expects to add two more campuses in Fulton County. He predicts to ultimately enroll 25,000 students.

“Community colleges represent the very heart of what American higher education should focus on,” McGaha said. “We are grounded in the traditional American ideals, giving people the opportunity to acquire the education they want and to become the type of people they want to be.”

Atlanta Metropolitan College

History: Opened in 1974 with 504 students.

Current enrollment: 2,688

Student makeup: About 95 percent are black, about 1.5 percent are Hispanic and less than 1 percent are white.