Lawrene Dolengowski loves her new job as a marketing director. She was hired in March before she finished her associate's degree in interactive media.
"It gave me an edge. It showed employers, potential employers, that I could go above and beyond,” said Dolengowski.
Dolengwski worked for another company as a designer, but was laid off in 2010. They re-hired her a year later, but then the firm laid-off 800 more workers, so she decided to brush up her skills at Columbus State to make herself more marketable.
But she is one reason why enrollment is down at Columbus State this year.
“Some of those adult learners who came back here for retraining, maybe they're back in the workforce now,” said Will Kopp, Columbus State Marketing V.P.
Kopp said that 15 percent fewer students have enrolled this fall compared to last year.
Other schools across Ohio are seeing the same trend.
Twenty-one of the state's 23 community colleges have fewer students. That's true at some universities, too.
Like Kopp, they say that's partly because students anticipated the change from quarters to semesters.
“They saw semesters coming. We told them, graduate if you can. They listened to us, and they did." said Kopp.
Other students, however, struggle with rising tuition and tougher restrictions on federal Pell grants. But Dolengowski said people still should find a way.
"Education is number one, to not give up, to keep going, pursue their dreams,” she said.
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