New Hampshire Colleges Rush to Collaborate Amid Enrollment Declines and New Legislation

Post-completion of their exams and papers, students at New Hampshire’s community colleges have frequently encountered a lingering issue: credit transfers.

Within the state’s public higher education systems, not all courses completed at a community college align seamlessly with a specific degree at a public four-year college or university. An engineering major, for example, might discover belatedly that the algebra-based physics course from their community college holds less relevance towards their four-year degree compared to a calculus-based course.

This dilemma can prove challenging, compelling students to pay for credits they believed to be unnecessary.

“The large private online college in Manchester will accept all transferred credits,” noted Stephen Appleby, the director of educator support and higher education at the New Hampshire Department of Education, referring to Southern New Hampshire University. “So how can our public colleges remain competitive when they reject credits while a rival institution accepts all?”

College administrators have been actively collaborating in recent years to fortify these course pathways and alleviate confusion. Nevertheless, it constitutes one of the various processes that state officials identify as necessitating improvement to address a mounting issue for state-run colleges: escalating costs coupled with a decline in student enrollment.

New Hampshire colleges are contending with significant demographic challenges. On average, high school graduating classes are shrinking, and the annual enrollment across New Hampshire state-run colleges and universities plummeted from 31,307 students in 2019 to 27,056 in 2023.

This year, public colleges and universities are being prompted into action. Governor Chris Sununu signed into law on July 12, House Bill 1450, mandating the University System of New Hampshire and the Community College System of New Hampshire to adhere to a series of recommendations prescribed by a task force convened by the governor the previous year.

The primary objective: enhancing consolidation.

The task force was allotted 90 days to bolster enrollment and curb costs, ultimately drawing a definitive conclusion. To contend with these issues, New Hampshire’s public colleges, universities, and community colleges will need to pool their resources and streamline operations in the forthcoming years.

While the school systems are not merging – lawmakers abandoned the proposal advocated by Sununu in 2021 following resistance from faculty within the community college system dreading potential layoffs – they are aligning their efforts, as officials affirm.

Advocating for alignment

The enrollment challenges faced by New Hampshire are not exclusive to the Granite State. Nationwide, colleges are closing at a pace of one per week, according to Appleby. “We anticipate this trend to further accelerate in the ensuing years,” he expressed.

While certain regions like Florida, Texas, and Arizona are witnessing growth, the Northeast and Midwest are grappling with particularly pronounced enrollment predicaments. “We do not fall under the high-growth areas of the country, and our populations are aging,” Appleby remarked.

Several states have already opted for consolidation. Alaska, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Vermont are among those that have adopted a similar strategy concerning their state-run community colleges and higher education institutions.

These states “have committed to this path of acknowledging, ‘We cannot sustain both cost and enrollments,’” Appleby elucidated.

Hence, it is now New Hampshire’s turn, as asserted by Appleby and others. Collaborating with the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, the New Hampshire task force formulated a list of recommendations to actualize the concept – some necessitating funding and legislative approval, while others can be promptly executed.

In the short term, the committee proposed aligning the credits of the two systems to enable community college students to seamlessly transfer a higher percentage of their coursework to the four-year colleges and universities. They advocated for an expedited admissions process wherein community college students maintaining a certain GPA could automatically enroll in a USNH college. Another suggestion was the seamless transitioning of high school students with a specific GPA to enter a community college.

Furthermore, other proposals encompassed engaging employers who commit to aiding graduates with repaying loans upon employment and consolidating the entire community college system into a single entity with unified accreditation.

Among the long-term recommendations were further amalgamating the community college and public higher education system under a single chancellor and governing board; removing redundant courses between the two systems to alleviate competition; and expanding online education.

Diverse challenges and advantages

Despite unified goals in boosting enrollment, the challenges confronting the university system and community college system diverge.

For the University System of New Hampshire, encompassing institutions such as the University of New Hampshire, Plymouth State University, and Keene State College, the issue is existential: a diminishing number of high school graduates in New Hampshire, with fewer proceeding to college.

In addition to the demographic obstacles accompanying over two decades of declining K-12 enrollment, young adults are apprehensive about costs and debt, gravitating towards online alternatives or alternative career paths, observed Catherine Provencher, the chancellor of the University System of New Hampshire, in an interview.

Consequently, colleges – both public and private – are not only contending amongst themselves for students but also endeavoring to elucidate the significance of pursuing higher education. Provencher mentioned that USNH is primarily striving to stabilize its student body, approximately half of whom originate from out-of-state.

“Growing enrollment in this climate? That may not be feasible,” she remarked.

In contrast, the community college system might be better positioned to adapt to more stringent economic circumstances, remarked Mark Rubinstein, the chancellor of the CCSNH and a task force member, in an interview.

Community colleges are less reliant on high school graduates and cater more towards working adults, who are inclined to pursue higher education training during economic downturns. Moreover, community colleges, which are less dependent on residential infrastructure, can cater to students geographically, enabling them to juggle familial and occupational commitments alongside their studies.

“Our envisioned future entails adapting to evolving technology, shifting industries, and personal circumstances prompting individuals to explore new avenues. While the number of 18-year-olds can only expand in correlation to newborns, the population of adults seeking education and seeking novel paths is expected to grow significantly,” Rubinstein posited.

A considerable portion of the consolidation endeavors is geared towards defensive strategies to stem the financial hemorrhaging at state-run colleges and universities, Appleby elaborated. While the University System of New Hampshire has frozen tuition for in-state students over the past six years, administrative expenses have witnessed a continuous escalation. Identifying cost savings will enable USNH to forestall potential tuition hikes and continue extending financial aid avenues despite escalating expenses.

Establishing ‘clear pathways’

Administrators are not solely focused on curtailing financial deficits; they are also striving to cultivate enthusiasm.

One strategy involves intensifying industry partnerships with colleges. “If I’m a high schooler or a young adult and I know that completing a program at Manchester Community College or at Keene State (College) leads to a job opportunity, I am more likely to pursue that program,” Appleby commented.

Well-defined roadmaps for community college students contemplating a transfer to a four-year college could also prove beneficial. Following the enactment of a law in 2022, USNH and CCSNH have collaborated to formulate 50 distinct ”transfer pathways” for community college students, as outlined in a report submitted to lawmakers this month.

These pathways delineate the precise community college courses students should enroll in to seamlessly transition to their desired bachelor’s degree if they opt for transfer to a four-year college. For instance, a student aspiring to work in the biotechnology industry could adhere to one of the pathways to enroll in the requisite community college chemistry, microbiology, and physics courses essential for completing the degree seamlessly at the University of New Hampshire.

Another approach involves streamlining the college-going experience for students – even before adulthood. This is where the “Early College At Your High School” program enters the picture. Formerly known as “Running Start,” this program allows high school students to undertake college courses during high school, enabling them to accumulate credits and reduce future expenses. Two courses are free for students initially, with subsequent courses priced at $150 each.

“There could be an entire cohort of high school students currently overlooking the prospect of attending college,” Provencher noted. “But with well-defined pathways for students and coordinated communication, there are avenues for these students to earn credits in high school, possibly accumulating a significant number of credits in high school, transitioning to the community college system, and subsequently joining the university system.”