“Historically, this is a time when folks make a change in their careers,” says Dr. Arthur Keiser, chancellor of the 13-campus Keiser University in Florida. “We’re 31 years old and we’ve seen it in the early ’80, early ’90s, late ’90s and now. We saw an 18 percent increase in enrollments statewide in 2007.”

In Sarasota, Michele Morgan, Keiser’s campus president, says the increase is explosive. Growth in the culinary program is up 74 percent, enrollment in paralegal courses enrollment is up 47 percent, business management is up 500 percent and the elementary education program saw a 100 percent increase in 2007.

Who are these students? Many are real estate agents who already have college degrees and want to get continuing education or certifications in fields—a several-month certification course in medical billing and coding, for example—as fast as possible. Construction workers, on the other hand, are seeing this as an opportunity to get a degree; and many are enrolled in business management courses that will take years to complete. One of the most popular fields is health care, with nursing and radiology taking the lead.

Other local colleges are experiencing the same growth. Argosy has seen a 20 percent increase in 2007-08, says director of admissions Josh Wiener. USF Sarasota-Manatee also has seen an increase in undergraduate enrollments and growth in its M.B.A. program in the 2007-08 academic year.

MCC has seen a 12.04 percent increase in its student body in the 2008 spring semester compared to last spring’s. “That’s major,” says Linda Harrington, public information specialist at MCC. “We do think the economy is a factor. People are having a hard time finding an entry-level job. It’s the highest spring enrollment we’ve ever had. The biggest increase is in AA degrees, people who are on a university track.”

All of this increased interest should make colleges happy, but it comes at a time when Florida colleges and universities are facing budget shortfalls. “That’s the sad thing,” says USF’s Dr. Arthur Guilford, who adds that, so far, the university hasn’t had to lay anyone off. “Class sizes will mostly likely increase.”—Susan Burns

My First Job
CRANBERRY QUEEN
The Sarasota EDC’s Emily Sperling was a voice for Northeastern cranberry growers.

“After graduating from the University of Florida’s College of Agricultural and Life Science with a degree in food and resource economics, I fell in love with Boston and set my sights on moving there and came across an open position at the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers’ Association. I applied and three weeks later was living in Massachusetts. When I was little, my family nicknamed me “Cranberry Queen,” so it was fate.

“One of the best things about working for a small nonprofit was that I got exposed to many different facets of the organization. I was in charge of bringing on new members and managing current ones and was involved in legislative affairs and public relations locally and internationally, and sometimes one of the cranberry companies would fly me out to Nantucket to lead educational tours for local elementary schools. And yes, I did get to harvest cranberries. My boss gave me one full day off to work for 10 hours with a local grower and it was fabulous, but there are two things they don’t tell you about cranberry bogs: one is the presence of snapping turtles and the other is that when the usually dry cranberry bogs are flooded, every little spider comes up and seeks dry ground by floating on cranberries—I literally had spiders webbing from my hat. But it was a blast.

“I spent two of the best years I’ve ever spent in my life in Boston. But I’d gained so much experience that I was chomping at the bit to move up to the next level and since my boss was only 32 years old there was nowhere to move up within the CCCGA. So I took a position at UF, got my master’s degree and ended up as the director of student relations and alumni affairs. I was there for six years before I moved to Sarasota, and now I’m working as community relations manager at the Economic Development Corporation. My passion is managing relationships with stakeholders, and I was first exposed to that with the cranberry growers. That job taught me what I was good at and what the possibilities [in the communications field] were. And the love for cranberries is still there, though I’m a purist—I don’t drink blends!” —Megan McDonald