Kristin Harty
CUMBERLAND — If Cassie Fruik had gone to the University of New Haven this fall to study forensic science — her dream — she would have needed about $36,000 to cover tuition, room and board for the first year of school.
That wasn’t an option for the 2009 Allegany High School graduate.
“I decided to go here and get my basics like English, math and biology,” said Fruik, who started classes last week at Allegany College of Maryland, where tuition costs $100 per credit hour for Allegany County residents.
“I figured it would be easier for me to transfer into a four-year college than to try to get into one from the get-go,” said Fruik, who has a student loan and works part-time at Sears to pay for school.
Fruik doesn’t seem to be the only one who’s developed that strategy.
Enrollment is up this fall at community colleges here and across the state, with early estimates indicating that statewide community college enrollment could increase as much as 10 percent over the fall of 2008 — or 12,000 students, said Clay Whitlow, executive director of the Maryland Association of Community Colleges.
The trend is nationwide. According to an article in the August issue of U.S. News and World Report, enrollment at public community colleges has grown by 30 percent since 2000.
Titled “Going the Community College Route Can Pay Off,” the story features profiles of students from Allegany College and West Virginia’s Potomac State College — all of whom chose to start at community colleges for financial reasons.
One of the subjects, Chris Rumer, of Lonaconing, attended ACM for two years before transferring to Penn State University.
“The article highlights a common misconception of community colleges, that they are not quite up to the academic standards of four-year institutions, and that only students with abysmal high school grades attend,” Whitlow said.
“Clearly, Allegany College of Maryland provided excellent academic preparation to the members of the Rumer family and at a fraction of the cost.”
Allegany College’s fall enrollment statistics aren’t yet available, but are “generally up,” said Shawna McQuade, director of public relations and student recruitment.
At Potomac State, a division of West Virginia University, preliminary figures show enrollment at 1,782 students, said Renee Trezise, director of marketing and communications. Previously, record-high enrollment was 1,608 in 2007, according to statistics provided by the school.
Tuition at Potomac State costs about $4,000 a semester for tuition, room and board for in-state students, compared to about $15,000 at West Virginia University — a fact that is mentioned in the U.S. News article.
The positive national press should raise both schools’ profile — and potential. President Barrack Obama’s “American Graduation Initiative,” which would invest $12 billion in community colleges over 10 years, has also created buzz around two-year colleges.
“It allowed us to be introduced to an audience that we probably would never have been able to reach,” said Potomac State’s Trezise, who coordinated the April visit of a U.S. News reporter and photographer.
A majority of Potomac State students are West Virginia residents, and at ACM, a majority of students are from Maryland. In 2008, almost 25 percent of Allegany County high school graduates enrolled at Allegany College, MACC statistics show.
“It’s a lot closer to my house, so I don’t have to pay so much for boarding, and it’s not so much of a gas price,” said Monique, Figueroa, 17, of Frostburg, who received her GED in March and is taking classes at ACM this fall. “I also enjoy this location very much — there’s the mountains, right next door.”
Contact Kristin Harty at kharty@times-news.com.
