The economy is in recession, but business is booming for nontraditional colleges and universities, especially those that cater to older students with full-time jobs.

Enrollment at these institutions has been increasing over the past few years, but the economy has contributed to the higher enrollment in recent months, said Harris N. Miller, the CEO and president of the Career College Association.

"Our schools have seen a major uptick in enrollment," he said.

Strayer University, Augusta's newest college campus, will begin holding classes next month and is located only a mile from University of Phoenix. Phoenix moved to Augusta in September 2006 and is already building a facility to double its capacity. Less than a half mile away is Troy University.

"We cater to working adults. We're good at it," said Karl McDonnell, the president and chief operating officer of Strayer University, which is based in Virginia.

Nationally, there are 60 million working adults between the ages of 18 and 60 who lack a college degree, Mr. McDonnell said.

"Whenever we see a community with a concentration with those types of adults, we look to put a campus there," he said.

Strayer now has 62 campuses, including six in Atlanta. Typically, a new campus will add 150 students a year before maturing with an enrollment of 1,000, Mr. McDonnell said.

Phoenix's Augusta campus has 1,400 students, but that should increase with the campus' expansion, Campus Director Asher Haines said. Among all of its campuses, it has 363,000 students.

"The community welcomed us with open arms when we first got here," Mr. Haines said. "We didn't expect the growth to be this quick for sure ... It's true across the whole university."

Brenau University's four campuses have also experienced growth, said Scott Briell, the senior vice president for enrollment management and student services. Enrollment in the adult programs, particularly the online classes, is up about 3 percent.

"There's a theory that when the economy gets rough a lot of people go back to school, and that theory is definitely true," he said.

Augusta's enrollment has held steady, but online enrollment for all of Brenau's campuses is up 15 percent, he said.

In its five years in Augusta, Troy University has also grown, Site Director Steve Butler said. The campus is an extension of Troy University in Troy, Ala., and is part of a network of 60 such campuses in 13 time zones.

"We've just seen consistent growth. The last couple of years I think it's the economy," Dr. Butler said. "Everybody wants to get that little bit of an edge either to get a new job or to keep the one they have."

Strayer, Phoenix, Brenau and Troy each pride themselves on their high academic rigor and flexibility for working adults, including night and online classes.

"Anyplace there's an Internet connection you can take our courses," Strayer's Mr. McDonnell said.

Strayer's online classes have proven attractive to active-duty members of the military. The school has students stationed in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mr. Haines said online education had a stigma when he served as a school counselor six years ago, but the public is beginning to embrace the 21st century, one reason for the increased enrollment at Phoenix.

"We were teaching online before Al Gore invented the Internet," he said.

These nontraditional schools are not part of the University System of Georgia. That insulates them from state funding cuts and cost increases, such as the new one-time fee added earlier this month to offset the cuts.

Reach Greg Gelpi at (706) 828-3851 or greg.gelpi@augustachronicle.com.