By Neil Offen

noffen@heraldsun.com; 419-6646

DURHAM -- More students are enrolled at Durham Technical Community College now than during any previous spring semester.

Enrollment is so high, Durham Tech hasn't had enough space for all those who wanted to take classes and has had to turn away up to 200 potential students.

"This is an all-time record for the spring semester," said Thomas Jaynes, Durham Tech's dean of student development. "In the past, like most community colleges, we would see the largest enrollments in the fall, and then the numbers would drop down. That's been the pattern for many years. But last year was the first-ever gain of more students in the springtime, and that has continued. It's definitely a new trend."

Durham Tech's full-time enrollment is now 5,566 students, 1.4 percent more than last year, which was already substantially higher than the year before.

Students who want to enroll in popular classes, such as health tech, couldn't get in.

"We didn't have room to put them in classes," Jaynes said. "It's hard to offer enough classes when you have a limited amount of resources."

The enrollment increases at the school mirror state and national trends, as a down economy drives significant growth at community colleges.

The state community college system -- which includes Durham Tech among its 58 campuses -- has added at least 27,000 students since August. "That's the equivalent of UNC Chapel Hill's undergraduate and graduate enrollment combined," said Megen Hoenk, a spokesperson for the system.

The American Association of Community Colleges reports that over the past two years, community college enrollment nationwide has grown nearly 17 percent, with an 11.7 percent growth last year alone.

"That's pretty much unprecedented," said Kent Phillippe, director of research at the association. "It's a much larger than normal increase."

Like many others, Durham Tech's Jaynes said that the increases are directly correlated with a struggling economy.

"This is generally what you see when the economy goes south," Jaynes noted. "With more people unemployed, more people have a chance to attend school full time and they're also eligible for federal aid if they go full time. Plus, many of them are simply looking to obtain new skills."

That's the case with Robert Greene, who was sitting at a desktop computer in Durham Tech's library on a warm Friday afternoon.

Greene got out of the Army recently and said he wants to stay busy. "I figure if I can get more skills here, I'll be able to get a job. Being a student here gives me a lot better chance at getting something."

Jaynes said the rise in enrollment at Durham Tech is "all across the board," with increases in both students coming directly from high school and in the number of nontraditional students as well.

"We're seeing it in all age brackets, in all the different curricular areas," he said. "We're seeing it with students interested in the hard sciences and with students coming back not quite prepared for college work."

Kane Price, in line to pay for his textbooks at Durham Tech's bookstore the other day, explained that there are other reasons to go to a community college.

He went to UNC Chapel Hill last year, and said he didn't like it.

"The classes were too big," he said. "I didn't like the large size. No one knew who you were. Here, the professors are on a par with UNC and they actually know who you are. And it's a lot cheaper here, too."