Rising Enrollment Strains Community Colleges

The state's community colleges are once again experiencing record enrollment growth, an expansion that college officials say could force them to end their policy of accepting all applicants.

"We can't continue at this pace," said Anita T. Gliniecki, president of Housatonic Community College, adding the almost 50 percent enrollment increase in the last five years has her campus at capacity. "We cannot continue to grow without additional staff and additional funds."

This is the twelfth consecutive year the state's dozen community colleges experienced a surge in enrollment, from about 39,000 during the 1998 fall semester to a preliminary count of more than 58,000 this semester, the Connecticut State Department of Higher Education reported Monday.

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