LJWorld.com

Gerry Broome/AP Photo

Mike Grace, 24, a student at Wake Technical Community College, visits the campus library Thursday in Raleigh, N.C. A study by the Pew Research Center shows the share of Americans age 18 to 24 attending college hit a record high in October 2008.

Some are there because of the recession, and others despite it. Regardless, more young Americans than ever are in college — especially community college, according to a new report.

A record high of about 11.5 million Americans age 18 to 24, or nearly 40 percent, attended college in October 2008, according to a study of Census data released Thursday by the Pew Research Center. Virtually all the increase of 300,000 students over the previous year came at two-year schools, while attendance at four-year schools remained flat.

Community colleges almost certainly saw attendance go up at least that much again this year, though final figures are not yet available.

The American Association of Community Colleges reports growth rates of 10 percent and higher have been common this fall on many campuses.

‘Relatively rich kids’

Overall college attendance has been going up for about 30 years; what’s new is the sharp uptick at community colleges, driven in large part by recessionary bargain hunting and closer ties between two- and four-year colleges that give students more confidence they’ll be able to transfer.

“It’s not just middle-aged people coming back to school and very poor people any more,” said Mike Grace, 24, a student at Wake Technical Community College in Raleigh, N.C., who plans to transfer to nearby North Carolina State next spring. “I’m seeing what I would consider to be relatively rich kids coming to school.”

As a broader range of traditional-age college students choose a community college, “it doesn’t have the stigma it once did,” Grace said.

Last year, nearly 12 percent of all 18- to 24-year-olds, or 3.4 million, were enrolled in community colleges, up from 10.9 percent the year before.

Economic advantages

The relative economic advantages of at least starting a degree at a community college have widened as prices at four-year colleges have shot up much faster.

Average tuition and fees at public two-year colleges ran just $2,372 this year, according to a study released last week by the College Board, compared to $7,020 at public four-year colleges and more than $26,000 at private ones. Once government grants and other aid are factored in, community colleges are essentially tuition-free to the average student, though living expenses and books remain.

“People have less money,” said Hope Davis, a spokeswoman for the Community College of Baltimore County in Maryland, where enrollment is up about 14 percent this year. “If you can go to community college and pay $2,500 instead of $25,000 and get your general education credits out of the way and then transfer, it makes more sense.”

For Grace, Wake Tech is about one-third the price of a public four-year college.

By saving money up front, he hopes to stretch out his Montgomery GI Bill benefits long enough to cover a master’s degree, too.

Grace thinks some classes are harder than at N.C. State because the community college is determined that its graduates succeed after they transfer.

Grace’s sister tried to convince him he’d be missing out on dorm life and other experiences at a commuter college, but he disagreed.

“I’ve lived in barracks before,” said the Afghanistan veteran. “I don’t want to party my way through school.”

Richard Fry, the report’s author, said another factor behind community college growth is the steadily increasing proportion of young adults who have completed high school, which hit a record high of nearly 85 percent last October.