The Maine Community College System says a slumping economy is responsible for an 8% jump in applications it has received for the upcoming academic year.
System officials are attributing the increase over last year to the uncertain job market, which has people looking to strengthen their job skills, according to a press release from the system. Kennebec Valley Community College in Fairfield and Northern Maine Community College in Presque Isle have experienced the largest increases, with 18% and 12.8% jumps respectively. The only college to experience a decline is Washington County Community College, whose applications are down 9.4%, which officials said is due to the fact those laid off from Louisiana Pacific or Domtar in the past few years have already enrolled or graduated, according to the release.
High gas prices also contributed to an increase in the number of enrollments for online courses, which jumped 14.5% at KVCC.
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