BEATRICE – When community colleges moved from being funded by property taxes to state funds under what’s called the Community College Future Fund…any additional state support is tied to student enrollment.


That could bode well for Southeast Community College, where President Dr. Paul Illich says enrollment is growing at all three campuses in Milford, Lincoln and Beatrice.  "In just this past year....it's been that for quite some time on the Milford Campus where we've grown about 50-percent in the last five years...but we just saw some significant growth overall, at the college...just this past year, at 12 percent."


SCC is due to receive a 3.5% increase in state funding, but because the futures fund amount is based on student enrollment growth and reimbursable education units…the increase for SCC could be closer to 10%.  The Futures Fund as designed is meant to cover general operational costs of community colleges, but Illich says one legislative initiative worth pursuing is to make the fund more flexible, to also aid in capital expansion….such as building projects to handle the higher number of students.


"When we grow, that might require not only additional expansion for faculty and staff and equipment. But, it might also require additional space, in order to continue that growth."


Despite recently building new residence halls, SCC Campus Directors say there is already the need for more student housing, given the growth in enrollment. Milford Campus Director Ed Koster says the campus has a waiting list for dorm space….and could immediately place more than 120 students in an additional residence hall, if constructed. Lincoln Campus Director Dr. Bev Cummins says the recently opened Woodhaven Hall is already filled, with the need for another residence hall.


In the transition to more state support, community colleges were able to retain a levy of up to two cents in property tax support, for capital construction projects. SCC has been adding facilities to its entire system, through a combination of the capital levy, bond financing and private donor support.