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LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Enrollment has dipped at Kansas' community colleges while it increased at technical schools and public universities, according to preliminary figures from the Kansas Board of Regents.
Andy Tompkins, president and chief executive officer of the board, said in a written statement Friday that people are headed back to work instead of seeking out additional education and training at community colleges. The report showed community college enrollment dipped 4.34 percent from last year, to 74,450 students.
"It is completely expected that as the economy improves there is going to be a decrease in enrollment at our state's community colleges, compared to the high enrollment numbers we saw during the last recession," Tompkins said.
Meanwhile, enrollment was up 1.47 percent at the six regents' universities and up 6.32 percent at technical schools.
The smallest state university enrollment increase was at the University of Kansas, which grew by .72 percent to 27,983 students. The largest uptick was at Wichita State University, which saw its enrollment increase by 3.11 percent to 15,003 students.
Among the other state universities, enrollment grew by 2.86 percent to 13,825 students at Fort Hays State University; by 1.34 percent to 6,114 students at Emporia State University; by 1.07 percent to 7,479 students at Pittsburg State; and by .75 percent to 24,766 students Kansas State University.
Combined, enrollment at community colleges, universities and technical schools dropped by less than 1 percent to 184,403 students from the fall of 2013, the data showed.
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