Dive Brief:
- An analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data by HigherEdJobs shows an overall drop of 21,200 higher education jobs during the third quarter of 2015, with one-third of those positions coming from community colleges — even though these schools only supply 4% of the total jobs in higher ed.
- The good news is that job postings are up 23.4% overall and, for the second quarter in a row, the number of full-time positions being posted is growing faster than the number of part-time positions, reversing a long-standing trend.
- The continued decline in higher ed jobs makes the largest quarterly decline since before the Great Recession, but in terms of postings, the number is up 24.6% for full-timers and 17% for part-timers.
Dive Insight:
Demand for community colleges rises and falls with the state of the economy. Adults who were out of work signed up for certificate programs and re-training opportunities in droves during the latest recession. That population is lower now with the recovery, making a shrinkage in the community college sector understandable. The tuition-free community college program in Tennessee, however, has boosted enrollment in that state. Motlow State Community College, for example, is serving almost 75% more full-time freshmen this year than it did last year and it has had to hire more faculty and staff to handle the increase. Oregon is gearing up for its own first-year Promise program and other states could soon follow, changing the employment outlook.