NH’s four-year schools adapt

Smaller student population prompts changes

Fred Kocher

New Hampshire’s public four-year colleges and universities are increasingly offering noncredit workforce-focused certificate programs, professional skills development and industry-specific courses, both on campus and online.

These offerings resemble those at New Hampshire’s community colleges.

Nowhere is that more pronounced than at the University of New Hampshire, which reportedly offers more than 25 certificate programs in topics such as AI Essentials, Digital Marketing, Nonprofit Management, Business Analytics and more.

In fact, the University of New Hampshire Professional Development & Training Office will customize a certificate program “to meet your team’s needs” at locations in Durham, Manchester, or virtually.

You can earn a “microcredential,” which is a digital badge representing achievement of a specific workforce skill. Almost all of these offerings can be completed in under a year.

The so-called “enrollment cliff” and fiscal challenges are reportedly pushing a new track of university programs toward workforce skills.

With affordability of a four-year college education at issue, the cost of a 10-week or one-year program focused on a specific skill set is less expensive — often in the hundreds and less than $2,000 — and offers a faster pathway to employment or training in a new skill that can propel a career.

That includes older, part-time students looking to update or acquire a skill, sometimes funded by an employer.

The reality pushing this trend? About 18% fewer students graduating from New Hampshire high schools, according to the New England Board of Higher Education. This has contributed to college enrollments going down for several years.

The decline is the steepest among the New England states, according to Education Resource Strategies. The main reason — a drop in birth rates. Adding to the enrollment dilemma is the loss of 60% of our high school graduates who seek out-of-state colleges, according to the NH Fiscal Policy Institute.

Another reality is affordability. The cost to attend the state’s flagship school, University of New Hampshire, can easily total more than $30,000 a year for NH residents when tuition, room and board and mandatory fees are totaled.

The state Legislature added to the issue with a $35 million cut to the University System of New Hampshire. With affordability an issue, University System colleges have had to get innovative.

UNH has made it less expensive to enroll in a couple online degrees within the College of Professional Studies — an Applied Bachelor of Science degree or a Management and Computer Information Technology degree over three years, saving students up to $10,350 in tuition.

The overriding force at work is a demographic shift with fewer students graduating high school or entering four-year college. “Colleges and universities cannot do anything about demographic change nor should they become technical schools,” says the widely-read national publication, The Hill, “but they can and must restructure their curriculum to align with student demand and the labor market.”

Four-year colleges are doing just that — offering multi-week/multi-month certificates and one-year professional development courses that often mimic two-year community college offerings for skill training and professional development. In effect, NH’s four-year public colleges and universities are offering short-term certificates and workforce training to attract potential students and boost enrollment.

They are attracting students who want short-term, low-cost education and training that leads to good-paying jobs and careers — something traditionally dominated by community colleges. There is competition for students, but there’s also collaboration when community college students can transition smoothly into the university system.

New Hampshire has made it easy for students of all ages to take a course or get an education.

Starting in high school in the Running Start Program, students can take college-level courses in high school taught by teachers who partner with the community college system. If they go on to a community college, their coursework can then be transferred into the university system where they can continue to a degree.

NH community colleges have designed their programs to also serve working adults. That includes certificates, workforce training and professional development which often resemble those short-term programs offered by the University of New Hampshire or Keene State or Plymouth State.

New Hampshire’s seven community colleges offer certificate programs designed for quick completion in four to eight weeks or less — courses in digital media, graphic design, medical coding, paralegal studies, etc., and the list goes on.

Fred Kocher’s is the host of NH’s Business on WMUR. He writes “It’s Worth Knowing” monthly for NH Business Review.