ENROLLMENT UP; ECONOMY DOWN

The riddle: How do you do more with less?

The answer: Maybe you don't.

This is the problem facing colleges across the country as the economy tanks and people flood back to school at the same time state governments are slashing budgets because of that same tanking economy.

"When the economy goes bad, you start to see more people go back to school, especially the community colleges," said Darren Divine, interim vice president for academic affairs at the College of Southern Nevada.

Credit low tuition and a basic mission at community colleges to teach people job skills.

CSN, the largest educational institution in the state, has seen its full-time equivalent enrollment shoot up nearly 10 percent this spring over last spring to about 35,000 students, the equivalent of 19,000 full-time students.

Nevada State College's full-time equivalent enrollment is up 4 percent over last spring. UNLV's is up about 1.5 percent.

This is in a year when budgets have been cut by about 10 percent, leading to fewer class sections.

And no one expects the growth to stop in the fall. Enrollment might even grow faster, with unemployment in Nevada forecast to keep climbing.

That makes the higher education system's budget problems all the more confounding.

Gov. Jim Gibbons has proposed cutting the higher education budget by 36 percent over the next two years.

Legislators have balked, but haven't yet offered up any solutions.

"It's frightful," said Tom Myers, chairman of CSN's media technology department.

His department is one of the fastest-growing at CSN. While the number of courses offered dropped 14 percent over the last year, the number of students grew 11 percent.

Enrollment probably would have grown more had there been room.

Myers said hundreds of potential students were turned away because there simply was not enough money to add courses.

If budgets are cut significantly next year, he said, the programs might have to shrink, regardless of whether demand grows.

Divine, the academic affairs vice president, said it is unfortunate that a community college might have to turn away students, particularly in the technical and vocational areas.

"That's not a community college," he said.

Training the area's workforce is a community college's primary mission, he said.

"One of the things we're really struggling with is how to handle the fall," depending on how the budget negotiations go in the Legislature.

CSN officials basically have two options, he said:

•Introduce a full course schedule, but keep some classes blocked in case budget cuts are severe. Those courses could be eliminated if necessary, or opened up if cuts are not too severe.

•Offer a limited schedule of classes so none will have to be canceled later.

Neither option is attractive, Divine said. "How can we plan for a useful fall schedule when we don't know what kind of budget cuts to prepare for?"

He noted that the college's most expensive programs are the auto technology and nursing programs, both vital to the region's economy.

"We cannot and will not in good conscience cut either of those programs," he said.

Suzanne Espinoza, associate vice president for enrollment and student services at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said growth there has been more moderate.

That's despite cutting class sections by about 500 because of the budget cuts.

Espinoza said much of the enrollment growth is concentrated in graduate programs.

"That would suggest students are coming back to school to retool, or to expand on their skills," she said.

Espinoza said it is too early to know whether the trend will continue next fall. She noted, too, that the university saw a 20 percent increase this spring in financial aid applications.

She encouraged students to apply for federal aid, particularly Pell grants, which are targeted toward low-income students.

Contact reporter Richard Lake at rlake @reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0307.