Nevada colleges feel economic pinch

Nevada has almost 10,000 fewer college students this fall than it did last fall, a drop officials said was a result of the bad economy in one way or another.

The recession, budget cuts and tuition hikes get the blame.

Overall, according to preliminary fall 2011 enrollment numbers from the Nevada System of Higher Education, the system's enrollment dropped 8.2 percent to 105,428, the lowest number since 2006.

UNLV dropped 4.4 percent, to its lowest level since 2003, while the University of Nevada, Reno saw a small increase, about 500 students, less than 2 percent.

Nevada State College grew by 6 percent to top 3,000 students, much slower than the double-digit growth it has seen in the past several years.

But the community colleges were hit hardest, losing well over 8,000 students. The College of Southern Nevada, by far the largest higher education institution in the state, dropped 12.6 percent to 38,492 students. That is the fewest since 2006.

"It really is a national phenomenon," said Jane Nichols, the state's vice chancellor for academic and student affairs.

Community colleges nationwide are losing students or predicting losses, Nichols said. At the start of the recession, they experienced massive growth. But now it has slowed down or stopped completely.

Michael Richards, the College of Southern Nevada's president, said there are likely several reasons for the drop, which he called "substantial."

Enrollment grew so rapidly from 2006 to 2009 -- 18 percent -- that many people who wanted to go to college to retool their skills as the economy cooled have already gone.

He also thinks it's possible that people have been hearing about budget cuts at CSN for so long, they may think there is no room for them there.

"We talked a lot about closing campuses and centers, downsizing this institution," he said. "Maybe somebody listened to that."

All of CSN's campuses remain open because budget cuts were about half of what was feared. But the largest drop in enrollment of all three of CSN's campuses was in Henderson, which Richards had singled out for closure if the cuts had been as bad as feared.

CSN has in recent years been plagued with the curse of too many students. It could not fit everybody in, growing from about 85 percent full to close to 98 percent full. But now, Richards said classes are about 90 percent full. There should be room for students in the spring, he said.

The college could see another significant enrollment drop next fall, when new admissions standards are put into place. Starting then, new CSN students will need a high school diploma or a special waiver from the college to enroll there.

Tracy Sherman, the faculty senate chairwoman at CSN, said faculty members have seen students who have had to choose between a job and an education. In this economy, she said, the job usually wins.

"The economy is certainly frightening some people away," she said.

UNLV President Neal Smatresk noted that most of the university's drop in enrollment was among graduate students.

"Graduate tuition is starting to get a little pricey," he said. "I'm hearing fairly regularly from the grad students that it's gotten out of hand."

Grad students can pay more than $5,000 a year to attend UNLV full time.

Enrollment among graduate students dropped 10 percent.

Michael Gordon, president of the graduate and professional student association at UNLV, said students are concerned about tuition increases.

Gordon said enrollment also is down because many college graduates are dealing with underwater homes, unemployment and all of the other issues that come with the down economy. They simply can't attend graduate school.

He said the effect could spiral because the student association's funds are determined by the overall graduate and professional student enrollment, and more than one-third of that money goes to help students in the form of grants and similar support. The fewer students, the less support is available.

Smatresk also said the elimination of some programs in recent years contributed to the decline.

The news is different at the state's newest college, Nevada State College. The small college took the largest budget cut among the state's higher education institutions, 30 percent.

But Erika Beck, the provost, said they have been able to deal with it by increasing class sizes, faculty workload and the number of classes taught by part-time instructors.

She said class sizes increased 15 percent over the past two years and faculty workload by 20 percent.

Beck attributed the enrollment growth this year to the continuation of a trend. The Henderson college's enrollment has almost doubled since 2005.

"We are no longer the best kept secret in the Nevada System of Higher Education," she said.

She said growth would continue at a rapid pace if not for the budget cuts.

"Growth would have been much, much higher," she said. "But we just don't have the budget to get more students in here."

Contact reporter Richard Lake at rlake@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0307.