Mich. Community Colleges See Fewer Students
DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - Times are hard these days for many Michigan community colleges. As WWJ's Rob Sanford reports, enrollment figures are going down.
Sanford said the numbers are surprising. Enrollment at the state's 28 community colleges is down four percent this year and the number of credit hours being taken has decreased by six percent.
There are several reasons for the decrease, but the two biggest include the loss of federal funds for worker retraining and a change in health insurance that expanded a student exemption, where part-time students may stay on their parents' health insurance policies.
Some colleges say they have planned related declines in tuition money and budgeted accordingly. Others say they're cutting instructors.
Metro Detroit community colleges have been largely unaffected, but Grand Rapids Community College has seen a credit hour drop of 1.8 percent and Lansing Community College had an eight percent drop.
Community Colleges make their tuition revenue by the amount of credit hours being taken by students.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
