Beaufort County Community College reaches capacity | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Beaufort County jobs are down, and community college enrollment is at a record high. This presents a catch-22, as community colleges are largely funded by taxpayers; yet many taxpayers are unemployed and attending community colleges.

    According to figures recently released by the North Carolina Employment Security Commission, Beaufort County's jobless rate rose 0.3 percent from October to November.

    As of today, 1841 students are enrolled in spring classes at BCCC, the highest number on record for spring enrollment, according Beaufort County Community College Registrar Rhunell Boyd.

    "With the economy the way it is, folks are having to go back and be retrained and enter the workforce in different areas," said Boyd.


BCCC administrators developed a new strategy to keep things running smoothly the first day of spring classes, Jan 6. In the above photo, a smiling BCCC student is shown purchasing textbooks from an unfrazzled employee of the BCCC bookstore. (Photos/Brandia Deatherage)

    There were 1950 students enrolled in classes during the 2009 fall semester, the highest number on record for fall enrollment, said Boyd.

    "It's a general rule that for every one percent unemployment goes up, community college enrollment goes up three percent," said Beaufort County Community College President David McLawhorn.

    The flooding of classes is draining BCCC's coffers and leaving administrators worried about funding. Beaufort County Community College depends on the state for approximately 60 percent (or $11 million) of their $18 million annual budget, according to Dean of Administrative Services Phillip Price. Beaufort County gave $2 million to BCCC, and the remaining $5 million came from proceeds generated by the college, itself, he said.


BCCC students wait in line at the bookstore on the first day of classes.

    The North Carolina General Assembly has always funded enrollment growth, said McLawhorn, but he's not confident that this trend will continue, due to constraints high unemployment and other economic woes have already placed on the state budget.

    McLawhorn explained that the North Carolina General Assembly grossly underestimated community college enrollment growth. At the beginning of the budget cycle, the General Assembly projected that the state would need to allocate $30 million extra in its budget for enrollment growth, he said. The latest projection is close to $100 million, stated McLawhorn.

    "Our budget is dependent on enrollment. As enrollment goes up, our budget should go up," said McLawhorn. "But that's going to be difficult for the General Assembly because community college enrollment all over the state is exceeding expectations. I just don't know where the General Assembly will get the money."


BCCC Director of Campus Operations Wesley Adams helps implement the new time-saving strategy of locating and pulling textbooks for students to get them through more quickly. "I think it will reduce the number of returns," he said.

    While BCCC hasn't had to turn away students due to overcrowding, in general, they have had some trouble getting certain students in all the classes they need.

    "A student who wants 18 hours can only get 14," explained Dean of Instruction Wesley Beddard. "That's budget FTE (full time equivalent) that we're not able to earn."

    A full-time equivalent student is a fiscal measurement that schools use to determine budgets. The figures are based upon the number of students and the units they take.

    "The classrooms are packed," said McLawhorn. "We can't add anymore classes on because we don't have any more budget to do so."

    "We can't add any more sections because we won't have any money to pay the instructors," said Beddard. "We've stretched it about as thin as we probably can."


BCCC Assistant to the Registrar Lorie Thurman helps students with last-minute questions on the first day of classes.

    A majority of BCCC students are enrolled in college transfer programs, with the next most popular degree being an associate degree in nursing.

    A wide majority of BCCC students are Beaufort County residents, but large numbers of Pitt, Washington, Hyde, Martin, Tyrell and Craven county residents are enrolled there, as well.

    "We're making do with what we have, but we'd like more," said McLawhorn.