The combination of student transfers from Connecticut’s community colleges and pupils returning home to study is generating record enrollment in the state-university system, authorities say.
Transfer enrollment in the four Connecticut State University System institutions has risen 45 percent since 2005, they say.
The good news for employers eager for young, homegrown talent is that more students who start out at a Connecticut community college are continuing their schooling towards a bachelors degree at one of the four state universities, said state university system spokesman Bernard Kavaler.
There are 36,629 students enrolled in the four — Central in New Britain, Eastern in Willimantic, Southern in New Haven and Western in Danbury — the highest enrollment since 1991, Kavaler said.
A record 3,150 students transferred into the four institutions this fall, beating the previous record of 3,086 in 2008.
The number of students transferring from Connecticut Community Colleges increased from 1,091 in 2005 to 1,558 in 2010, a jump of about 43 percent.
The highest number of community college transfers came from Manchester (262), followed by Naugatuck Valley (209), Gateway (208), and Norwalk (153). More than half of the 1,558 Connecticut Community College transfers came from those four institutions.
