DOBSON — Surry Community College is feeling the crunch of the difficult economic times through their students as officials there try to figure out how to serve more with less funding.

Those students, in turn, are trying to figure out how to pay for the classes when they are unemployed or barely making ends meet.

The college is facing an increase in enrollment and wondering if there are enough funds to hire new teachers to teach the added classes. Bigger enrollment figures also mean the college has to find classrooms and instructors for them.

The money used to fund these programs comes from the state. The problem with this is that the state funding is about one year behind the current school year. The funding provided for the 2008-09 school year was based on enrollment for the 2007-08 school year. The additional enrollment, therefore, has not been accounted for in that budget. While there has not been a funding cut from previous years, it has also not increased to compensate for the additional demand.

“That is incredibly difficult,” said Jamie Childress, associate vice president of student development, of the delay in funding. “These are the same issues we’re all struggling with. We have a lesser amount to help more people.”

With the decrease in available jobs in the area, many people are turning to education to help prepare them for the jobs that are available. They are also having to turn to financial aid to help them pay for the classes. According to a report Childress gave to the Board of Trustees Monday night, the students at the school have received more than $4 million in financial aid either from federal sources or from third party billing agencies such as unemployment, the National Guard and veterans associations. That includes about $31,000 in child care grants.

More than half of the students enrolled at the college are on some kind of financial assistance to help out with books and tuition. However, like the federal funding provided to the school, financial aid is based on the previous year’s income. Most of the people on unemployment had jobs last year, making it more difficult for them to receive financial aid.

The community college is trying to help these students out as much as possible by making a special conditions recalculation available to them. The recalculation can be requested under special circumstances which includes a lost of income for six or more weeks. As long as students can provide proof of this, they can resubmit a request to the federal government.

“It takes us some extra time and effort but it is worth it to the students,” said Childress.

The college is also implementing other ways of helping students who are having to crunch the numbers to be able to attend classes. The e-cashier program allows students to break down their tuition payments into three to four installments each semester instead of having to pay a lump sum at the beginning.

“That has picked up speed. There are more now than ever before,” she said. “That’s been a very helpful thing.”

There are also some groups internally, made up of faculty and staff, who have a limited amount of funding to help students in emergency situations if there is nothing else that can help them. Marion Venable, director of the SCC Foundation, also told board members at the meeting that a campus fund drive is being created. It will act as a student emergency fund so that the faculty and staff who want to make contributions for students can put them in one location. The drive received a $1,000 contribution this week.

Several students are also going down to a part-time class load. This helps with funds unless they are still on their parents’ insurance which requires a full-time class load.

The college is also offering four-day hybrid classes know as Power Friday classes. These classes meet on campus one day per week and students work via the Internet during the other days. This allows a more flexible schedule for students who have jobs and also helps them save on gas money. According to Childress, several students wanted to register only for Internet classes this semester.

“We’re trying to be responsive as fast as we can to help as many as we can,” she said.

Even with all of the programs the college is implementing, the predicted increase in enrollment may be too much for them to completely compensate for this semester. The college has already raised the cap on classes. On the final day of registration, Jan. 5, more than 400 students showed up on campus to register for classes. This comes on top of the 2,600 who had already registered.

“That was just phenomenal,” said Childress, noting that Forsyth Technical Community College had 1,700 students show up on the final day. “It’s a sign of the economic times. We will continue to try to be flexible. We’ve tried to be smart on how we work.”

Increased enrollment is a problem across the state as more people are turning to colleges for job retraining or getting another degree. Childress hopes that federal financial aid will continue to be available to students but wonders how long the government will be able to continue providing as much money as they have been.

Contact Morgan Wall at mwall@mtairynews.com or 719-1929.