SCCC seeks to bolster student enrollment

Suffolk County Community College trustees want school officials to survey the 2,500 local students attending Nassau Community College in hopes of keeping them home to avoid $5 million in tuition town taxpayers must pay.

Trustee Saul Fenchel asked administrators Thursday to track the exodus to see if the college can bolster enrollment, which flattened this year after years of record growth.

"Why would 2,500 students from Huntington and Babylon travel greater distances to go to Nassau [Community College]?" Fenchel asked.

Under state law, local governments must pay a share of costs for students who attend community college beyond their county. Suffolk shifted the cost to the county's 10 towns for this year because of budgetary problems.

Fenchel said the student exodus to Nassau is "much bigger" than the number of local students attending Manhattan-based Fashion Institute of Technology, where county officials last month withheld $1.5 million in tuition payments.

That battle is over state classification of FIT as a community college, though it charges Suffolk for local students in the school's bachelor and graduate programs. A State Supreme Court judge ruled that local governments only have to pay a share for local students in two-year programs.

A majority of trustees supported Fenchel's push and suggested administrators enlist Suffolk Comptroller Joseph Sawicki to help with a survey mailing because his office processes paperwork for students seeking to attend community colleges outside county borders. Sawicki said he would cooperate if the college can reimburse their cost. He added FIT has sent new $3.3 million bill for the spring semester, of which he plans to withold $1.5 million for upper level students.

In all, Suffolk has budgeted $14 million this year for local students attending state community colleges outside the county.

According to county 2010-11 figures, 2,531 Suffolk students attended NCC, compared with only 722 who attended FIT. However, FIT's charge-back rate is $10,980, while Nassau is only $3,350. By contrast, only 257 students from Nassau and New York City combined attend SCCC, bringing in only $343,881 to the school.

"I applaud the trustees for trying to get answers," said Legis. Thomas Cilmi (R-Bay Shore) who sponsored a resolution to withhold FIT's payments. "The disparity between the number of local students going to Nassau compared to Suffolk is alarming, given how much we spend on our community college."Several college officials said some are adults who work in New York city or Nassau and take night classes at Nassau Community college rather than face rush hour traffic. Others say that some students may be attracted by Nassau' single campus, or are attracted by by the nightlife around the Nassau camopus or the prospect of meeting new people.

Trustee Paul Pontieri said a survey would all college officials to determine "if we are doing something wrong that we can correct and become a better institution." Student trustee Anthony Mangual agreed the college needs answers: "It's just a matter of good customer services."