COLUMBIA --- Aiken Technical College is likely to see its number of students jump by as much as 15-18 percent since last fall, about twice the 8-percent increase that administrators predicted.
"We are busting at the seams. We are doing very well," said Marc Payne, dean of enrollment for the college, which has an annual enrollment of 3,500-4,500 credit students and 14,000 noncredit students.
Still, he noted that classes won't start until Monday, and so for the next few days numbers will be in flux.
Demand for technical and community college courses has risen nationwide and across South Carolina, said Mr. Payne, as the recession forces students to shop for a less expensive education and a way to build skills with direct applications in the workforce.
In Georgia, for instance, West Central Tech, which has campuses in Douglasville, Newnan, Carrollton and LaGrange, reported a nearly 20 percent increase in students.
Students opting to start out at a technical college before entering a four-year college, coupled with the ranks of laid-off workers who are looking for new skills are driving Aiken Tech's huge enrollment increase, Mr. Payne said. Aiken County's unemployment rate is 10.2 percent.
But he also credits the college's unprecedented marketing push. Aiken Tech has been sending out mass mailings and raising its visibility at college fairs and high schools.
"We're now marketing and selling our story," said Mr. Payne. "Before, in the old days, community colleges were always a second choice. But now we're going out to let people know, 'Hey, we have these programs,' and our classes transfer."
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