ITHACA, N.Y. — Despite recent reports otherwise, Tompkins Cortland Community College’s accreditation is not at risk. Much to the contrary, the school’s number of enrolled students has continued to grow for the fourth consecutive semester after community colleges statewide faced dire enrollment downturn during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A Jan. 10 report in the Albany Times Union stated that the Middle States Commission on Higher Education had sent a letter of concerns to nine community colleges around the state, including Tompkins Cortland Community College.
The letters outlined concerns over either finances or enrollment at the nine schools, and warned the administrators that unless the outlined problems were addressed, the schools would risk losing their accreditation, a status that measures education standards at higher education institutions. Accreditation is voluntary but necessary to receive federal funding or for students at the institution to be eligible for federal student aid.
TC3 President Dr. Amy Kremenek confirmed to The Ithaca Voice the school had received a letter from MSCHE over the school’s finances, but clarified the issue was due to a misinterpretation of the school’s post-retirement obligations in its Annual Institutional Update.
“The reason that there was a question had to do with the way the college was calculating post-retirement health insurance,” Kremenek said. “You have to calculate that in your financial statements, and that was creating some questions for Middle States.”
Kremenek said the school offered further explanation regarding its financial standing to the accreditors and that there have not been any other questions from MSCHE since that was resolved in March 2023. MSCHE’s database of accredited schools confirms this timeline and still lists the school’s accreditation as in effect until its regularly scheduled review in the 2026-2027 academic year.
Several other community colleges faced questions about their enrollment, which had been a serious concern for TC3 leadership over the last several years. After enrollment crested during the post-2008 recession period to over 5,000 students, it fell steadily again during the late-2010s and was rocked by the COVID-19 pandemic.
That trend has reversed direction over the last two years. Enrollment was listed at 4,750 for the Fall 2023 semester. In a November announcement about rising community college and SUNY enrollment, Gov.Kathy Hochul highlighted TC3, congraulating the school for its year-over-year enrollment increase of 6.7%, which ranked sixth-best in single-year growth among the state’s 35 community colleges.
Kremenek, who was named president in 2022 after the late Dr. Orinthina Montague departed to lead Volunteer State Community College in Tennessee, said the enrollment situation has improved even from the fall. The student body is 10 percent larger than it was during last year’s spring semester, she said.
“At this point, things look very good for spring, as they did for fall,” Kremenek said. “For community colleges, much of our funding is based on enrollment. […] It’s two pieces, certainly for business reasons, but more importantly, it’s a mission reason.”
The more people who apply and enroll in the school, Kremenek said, the more effective an institution it is. Kremenek also noted the much-touted micro-credential program, which was introduced in 2021 and designed to help students who need specialized short-term education opportunities, often in order to enter the workforce quickly. It is free for Tompkins County residents, thanks to funding from the Tompkins County Legislature and the TC3 Foundation.
The school’s enrollment manager, Richard Floyd, said the school’s proactivity in recent years, like introducing the micro-credential program, positioned it well for the momentum it now has.
“We were well-poised in terms of our actions, and with the market for growth right now,” said Floyd, who was hired in August. “There’s a great need for the kind of education that TC3 and other community colleges offer, that focuses both on skills and preparation for the next steps that people are taking in their lives, and irrespective of age, which is important to us.”
Kremenek mentioned that the school has recently hired someone to focus on helping adult students who have children or jobs that can interfere with their education, which is a significant portion of TC3’s student body.
For the student body of TC3 and other community colleges, populations that are already more prone to outside interruptions of their education than a typical college or university, the pandemic unleashed a maelstrom of complications. But Kremenek said that, at least for now, the worst impacts have stopped.
“Our students really struggled across the board, not just TC3 but all community colleges, and you see that in the enrollment numbers,” Kremenek said. “What you’re seeing now is a lot of energy. Students are excited to be back in the classroom, they’re excited to see all the possibilities in the future. […] There’s a lot of optimism on campus, and a lot of belief in the mission of the college to serve people in the community.”
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