PENDLETON — When Blue Mountain Community College President Mark Browning began his tenure in September, he stated he was hoping the college wouldn’t see its enrollment drop by more than 1% in the fall. Whether BMCC met that goal is a matter of how you look at the numbers.

The Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission recently released enrollment data for every community college in the state. By raw headcount, the data showed Blue Mountain’s fall 2021 enrollment grew by 38 students, or 2.5%, compared to fall term last year.

But measure enrollment by full time equivalent — a number that is calculated by the number of classroom hours each student takes and the metric the state uses to determine funding — and Blue Mountain’s enrollment falls by 17, or a 4.4% decrease.

In other words, more students are attending BMCC but they’re spending less time in the classroom overall. BMCC is far from alone: Community college headcount enrollment across the state dropped by less than 1% but full-time equivalent enrollment fell by more than 7%.

In an interview, Browning said he was glad more students were attending the college, but staff needed to continue working toward raising its full-time equivalent enrollment.

“We need to keep moving in the right direction,” he said.

BMCC’s enrollment has been declining for years, but 2020 saw the college’s headcount drop by around 30%. BMCC endured dozens of position eliminations amidst budget cuts during the past two years. Browning’s predecessor, interim President Connie Green, said some of it was done in the name of “right sizing” Blue Mountain.

Browning said determining the proper size of BMCC’s staff or student body is an open question. He also said it was too soon to predict how 2021-22 enrollment would affect the budget because high school enrollment through BMCC’s dual credit program won’t be counted until the winter and spring terms.

Blue Mountain’s long-term enrollment decline is indicative of a wider trend across the state. Over the past decade, Oregon’s community college system student enrollment has fallen by 40%.

Cam Preus, the executive director of the Oregon Community College Association and a former BMCC president, said those numbers don’t take into account the four or five years before 2012 when community colleges saw a huge jump in enrollment. Although no community colleges have recovered to pre-pandemic levels, she also pointed to a few community colleges, such as Oregon Coast Community College in Newport, saw growth in both headcount and full-time equivalent enrollment.

But she added community colleges will have to alter their recruitment strategies to stabilize their enrollment long term. Citing a study from the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education, Preus said Oregon’s high school population is projected to decrease starting in 2025. If that trend comes to bear, Preus said colleges should begin focusing on bringing in adult students and partnering with local employers on workforce training as potential sources of enrollment.

Browning said BMCC is already looking at ways to boost enrollment long-term. After a few months on the job, Browning said he would like to revive the college’s communications and marketing department.

Former President Dennis Bailey-Fougnier eliminated the vice president of college relations in 2020. The following year, the BMCC Board of Education agreed to outsource marketing services to the InterMountain Education Service District under the recommendation of Green.

Browning said needs to be able to spread its message if it’s going to improve enrollment, and he would like to bring communications and marketing services in-house as soon as the budget allows it.