Affordable education: SC technical colleges expect enrollment boost amid coronavirus

As the coronavirus pandemic upends the job market and traditional higher education, more South Carolinians may be looking to technical college for an education.

Technical colleges, which cost far less than four-year schools and require far less time to complete a degree, are being looked to as a temporary solution for recently unemployed workers and recent high school graduates who hope to save money on tuition, said S.C. Technical College System President Tim Hardee.

“We do think we will see an increase in students coming to us out of high school,” Hardee said. “There is also a reality we expect many of those unemployed people coming back to technical school because they want to reenter the job market and need a skill to do that.”

One of the advantages to getting a certificate or degree from a technical college right now is that many of the jobs they’re training students for — such as coding, nursing and engineering — pay well and will still be viable careers for years in the future, said Midlands Technical College President Ronald Rhames.

“Even post-pandemic and post-recession, we will have a strong demand” for these jobs, Rhames told The State.

Enrollment at Midlands Tech is about where it was at this time last year, Rhames said. But once school gets started, Rhames said he expects enrollment to exceed last year’s, because of both the COVID-19 pandemic and the more affordable nature of technical colleges.

Should technical schools see an influx of students or a change in demand from employers, they should be able to absorb the extra people, Rhames and Hardee said.

Midlands Tech has ramped up its “mini-terms” program that allows students more flexibility and a shorter semester length, something especially important for household breadwinners who have been laid off or have had their work hours cut, Rhames said.

While four-year college students have long pointed out the skyrocketing tuition and ensuing student debt, the coronavirus pandemic has forced this issue to a breaking point. Ninety-three percent of college students throughout the country want to see a decrease in tuition if classes are online only, according to a survey of more than 13,000 U.S. college students conducted by online learning company OneClass.

An online petition calling for the University of South Carolina to reduce its tuition because of more classes being held virtually, rather than in person, has also surfaced, gaining more than 150 signatures.

It’s unclear by how much technical college enrollment could change because of the coronavirus, experts agree. As of right now, data do not show a major increase in technical school enrollment, but history shows there could be in the future, said Rusty Monhollon, the president and executive director for the S.C. Commission on Higher Education, which oversees colleges and universities in the state.

“In economic downturns, enrollment at community and technical colleges increases and increases significantly,” Monhollon said.

For example, from 2007 to 2009, full-time enrollment in S.C.’s technical colleges increased 26%, from 50,932 to 64,504, according to the higher education commission. Meanwhile, the total number of technical college students — including part-time students and those who are dual-enrolled while still in high school — increased about 19%, from 79,383 to 94,424.

However, there are several wild cards that could disrupt these assumptions. For one, American higher education has not seen a pandemic of this magnitude in modern history, Monhollon said.

“One challenge facing all institutions, it’s not just affordability... it’s health concerns,” Monhollon said.

What’s more, this is the first American recession where online education is considered a serious alternative to in-person college classes, Monhollon said. During the Great Recession, online classes were in their infancy; internet speeds were slower, smart phones and tablets weren’t as widely available, he said.

“I’m not sure how online education is going to fit into this particular recession,” Monhollon said. “Online education has evolved to a different place than it was 10, 12 years ago.”