Md. community colleges riding new wave in higher education - Childs Walker, Baltimore Sun

At the Community College of Baltimore County, fall enrollment is expected to be 20 percent higher than last year. At community colleges in Howard, Anne Arundel, Harford and Carroll counties, enrollment is projected to rise 10 percent to 12 percent over last fall, and health care training programs are relegating hundreds of applicants to waiting lists. Baltimore City Community College officials did not return phone calls seeking enrollment data. Community colleges appeal to several populations of students in difficult financial times. At less than one-third the cost of the state's public universities and less than 10 percent of the cost of many private colleges, they're a bargain for families of recent high school graduates.