Crash course in cost

Area high school seniors this week and next will tell guidance counselors their post-graduation intentions on annual surveys, and early signs are that more students than ever will choose two-year institutions, especially Blue Ridge Community College.

Guidance counselors in Waynesboro, Staunton and Augusta County said that in the past few years more than 30 percent of students have wanted to attend a two-year college, mostly BRCC, up from about 20 percent five years ago.

“It used to be they used [community college] as their fall back plan,” said Carol Marvin, director of school counseling at R.E. Lee High School in Staunton. “More and more it is becoming a conscious choice.”

As echoed by counselors across the county, Marvin said the lower cost of community college is encouraging students to think about institutions like BRCC during tough economic times. Others are not ready for the independence required in a four-year college. And, overwhelmingly, a majority of students say they are attracted to BRCC’s ability to transfer credits to four-year universities such as Virginia Tech and James Madison University.

“It’s just a cheaper way to get the general education requirements,” Marvin said.

BRCC’s fall enrollment began April 13 and is showing increased numbers compared to last year, in part because many students are registering earlier than ever before, said college spokeswoman Bridget Baylor. She said enrollments “skyrocketed” in the late 90s then leveled off to a growth rate of between 3 and 5 percent. The rate is pushing higher again, and not just at BRCC.

“The numbers have absolutely exploded ... we’ve taken on 16,000 new students in two years,” said Monty Sullivan, vice chancellor for academic services and research with the Virginia Community College System.

Course loads are larger, too, and state community colleges are seeing an “influx” of students 18 to 22, who traditionally choose four-year institutions, Sullivan said.

“When the the community college initially came into play … it was looked at as somehow ‘less than,’ and for students that just couldn’t get into a four-year college,” said Riverheads High School Guidance Counselor Bruce Hill. “That perception has just gradually changed over the years.”

While intentions of immediately enrolling at a four-year school have fallen, more than 61 percent of Riverheads seniors said they were headed to a two-year college last year. Hill said that was an “exceptionally large” number, but reflects a flip-flop between two- and four-year interest.

“We give them the same information every year,” Hill said. “[BRCC] has done a very good job of establishing an excellent reputation and has worked hard to develop agreements with a lot of the four-year schools so that the transferability of their programs is just significantly better.”

If students meet grade-point average requirements at BRCC, they can be guaranteed admission into some of the state’s four-year schools, and in some cases admission into specific majors. Sullivan said the relationship between BRCC and JMU is held up as an example of how students can cross smoothly from a two- to a four-year institution.

At Waynesboro High School, more than 30 percent of students are considering a two-year college.

At Fort Defiance High School, 38 percent of students said they would attend a two-year college last year. Like other area high schools, counselors at Fort Defiance frequently hear about finances and the transfer program as reasons to choose BRCC.

Guidance Coordinator Ann McMillan warns, though, that two- and four-year college experiences are different.

“A lot of people say the first two years at a community college are the same as going to the first two years of a four-year college. That’s not my sense of it,” McMillan said. “It really is something different.”

“We try to help students who know the answer to two questions: Where they are going when they leave Blue Ridge and what the major they would like to transfer to,” said BRCC Student Services Advisor Kathy MacHardy.

She said community college allows students and parents to learn about the transition out of high school, especially for first-generation college attendees.

The college faces a changing landscape in terms of course offerings, online options, class size and the makeup of the student body, but officials continue to project enrollment growth.

“I knew we were going to go up, it’s just to see how high now,” MacHardy said.