By Stacy Teicher Khadaroo
Christian Science Monitor
And Raanan Geberer
Brooklyn Daily Eagle

BROOKLYN — Rhoda Joseph’s story is a familiar one by now. After a 20-year career as a chemist, she was laid off just before Christmas and came home “thinking the world was coming to an end.�

What’s different is that a silver lining awaited her in Bucks County, Pa. “I saw in the paper, within days of my layoff, that [the community college] was offering free tuition for displaced workers,� she says. “I thought, here’s an opportunity for me to go back and see if I can fashion a new career.�

Now she’s enrolled in a paralegal class, hoping to transfer her science skills into patent or intellectual property law.

Brooklyn’s sole community college, Kingsborough, is definitely seeing more applicants, according to spokesperson Ruby Ryles. She reports 2,000 more applications than last year. She said the trend is being seen all over the country, with many people who are laid off going back to school to get a diploma or more credentials.

Among the most popular offerings at Kingsborough, she adds, are a program in hospitality and tourism, and a marine program that can help students get jobs in the maritime industry. Kingsborough is located in Manhattan Beach and has its own dock.

In most of the country, two-year community colleges are the only commuter schools. However, this is not the case in New York City.

Here in Brooklyn, St. Francis College is seeing record enrollments, a record number of transfer applications, and a record number of students applying from public schools (rather than the traditional Catholic schools), says St. Francis Richard Relkin.

He said he was not sure whether this was related to the economy, but “you look at the sticker price, and you see we cost about half of many other private colleges.�

In Flatbush, CUNY’s Brooklyn College is also seeing an increase in enrollments, although this has been the case for four years, said spokesman Ernesto Mora.

Asked about the connection with the economy, he said that the recession has made Brooklyn College, with its relatively low tuition, more attractive than more expensive private colleges. Also, people who have been laid off now realize the value of a diploma.

Some Help Students With Tuition

Among the nation’s 1,200 community colleges there is no tracking of how many are helping students with tuition, but examples can be found in New Jersey, Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, and Washington State. “It’s an ingrained value of the community colleges, that they’re there to serve the educational needs of their communities, and they have always responded as quickly as they can,� says George Boggs, president and CEO of the American Association of Community Colleges in Washington.

Inspired by the colleges in his home state of Pennsylvania, Sen. Bob Casey has just proposed a bill that would reimburse community colleges up to $1,000 for each displaced worker whose tuition is waived.

Oakton Community College, outside Chicago, launched its “Reboot� program this winter for local residents laid off after Jan. 1, 2008. Tuition is free for at least one semester for five subjects that are in demand, including computer programming and green marketing. Eighty-three people signed up before the classes filled to capacity, says career-services manager Robin Vivona .

“We had people who were driving buses [and] people who were in middle management and everywhere in between,� Ms. Vivona says. Without the tuition waiver, many told her, they wouldn’t have taken the courses. “A lot of people thought of education as a luxury.�

ron McMath says he jumped at the free classes at Oakton’s campus in Skokie, Ill., which he heard about through a support group at the local library. After more than a decade in information-technology with an international firm, he was laid off a year ago. He’s gotten by on a small fruit-and-vegetable franchise and part-time sales work for his wife’s company. But now he’s in class for five hours a night, five nights a week, to become a certified computer diagnostic specialist.

“I know how to build a computer from scratch now,� he says, which will add hardware troubleshooting to his skills.

Despite their desire to help, community colleges often can’t find enough money, staffing, or space to keep up with demand. Right now they’re facing surging enrollments not only from adults in need of new training, but also from young people seeking affordable higher education.

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