With the difficult economy, enrollment is increasing at the Great Bay Community College of New Hampshire with students who are shying away from the higher costs of four-year institutions.

According to Bruce Baker, the vice president of enrollment, estimates for the current year show the school’s enrollment increasing by 8 percent over last fall with about 1,800 students attending. Baker said of those, over two-thirds of the students attend part-time.

Great Bay student Carly Hartnett said that she enrolled in the community college in order to take her basic courses somewhere close to home where she could hold down a part-time job while avoiding the $30,000 or more she would have had to spend at a four-year university.

Hartnett, who does plan on transferring to a four-year university after she has fulfilled her basic course requirements said, "I'm getting all my core credits done and was able to figure out what I want to do."

It remains to be seen how widely this trend is occurring across the country, or how it will affect the treatment of community colleges in state and local budgets.

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