Colorado Mountain College thrives as students look to reinvent themselves for a tough job market
By Sarah Mausolf, Vail Daily
EDWARDS, Colorado — John Avery had been thinking about changing careers for a while but he turned his full attention to it after losing his job.
When he got laid off from a property management position about a year ago, that nudged him to make a move toward the health care industry.
Although Avery, 26, already has a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from Colorado State University in Fort Collins, he turned to Colorado Mountain College in Edwards to get the specialized training he needs to become a paramedic.
“CMC’s got a cheaper program than a majority of schools in the state,” the Breckenridge resident said. “That was a big reason. It’s also close.”
At a time when many businesses are floundering, Colorado Mountain College has been thriving in spite of — and in some ways because of — the recession. Enrollment at the Edwards campus has steadily increased since the recession hit, rising by nearly 10 percent between 2008-09 and 2009-10.
That trend doesn’t surprise David Longanecker, president of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education in Boulder, a group that works to expand post-secondary education in the western U.S.
“When there is a recession, almost always we find the demand for higher education goes up, particularly at community colleges,” he said.
As the unemployed look to upgrade their skills, community colleges offer a cost-effective option, Longanecker said.
Colorado Mountain College’s enrollment had been booming even before the recession. Enrollment at the Edwards campus has jumped from 3,543 students in 2004-05, the year the campus opened, to 4,849 in 2009-10. That’s a 37 percent jump.
Read the rest of this article in the July 25 edition of the Vail Daily.