Enrollment in the state’s community and technical colleges has grown by 5,500 students in the last five years but those numbers appear to be leveling off.
West Virginia CTC Chancellor Jim Skidmore told state lawmakers Monday the growth has mostly been in the eastern panhandle but population declines in other parts of the state are beginning to have an impact on the numbers.
“Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College—they have a continued decline,” Skidmore said. “It’s going to be more and more difficult for them to keep their numbers up.”
Skidmore says the enrollment losses will also mean a drop in number of graduates from community and technical colleges.
“We’re going to have to do a better job at all of those colleges that are going down, with retention because those numbers in those regions are pretty static. They aren’t growing like they are in the eastern panhandle,” Skidmore said.
Retention rates at community and technical colleges are at 49 percent. Skidmore says the goal for the last five years has been 60 percent.
Skidmore’s report to lawmakers pointed out some other concerns. He says license passage rates need to be higher among students in medical fields. He says the passage rates for nurses and related fields are more than 90 percent but respiratory therapy is less than 70 percent. He also said physical therapy assistance license passage rates also need improvement.