This commentary by ACM President David Jones appeared in the Bedford Gazette on January 11, 2025.
Next week, I will have the honor of welcoming students to Allegany College of Maryland for the start of the spring semester. Without a doubt, it’s one of my favorite days on campus. No matter the year, students renew our college community. They bring a sense of hope as they connect or reconnect with one another and with us, often as their surrogate family. The first day of a semester is a chance to begin again.
That hope and optimism of our students mirrors our own. We envision a bright future for ACM in 2025, as we consider our enrollment trends, economic impacts, and partnerships. Despite the many challenges facing higher education, we can share in good faith, as I do today, what we know about ACM to be true.
Our student enrollment is positive.
Allegany College of Maryland is in a unique position. As other colleges and universities
experienced declining enrollments during the fall semester, our student enrollment
increased by 4.3% over the prior fall. Similarly, we appear on track for increased
enrollment when the spring semester begins on January 15.
Our Center for Continuing Education and Workforce Development celebrated record enrollment in FY 24 with an increase of 10.2% in FTE or Full-Time Equivalent. (FTE is a calculation that translates our full-time and part-time headcount into a single number for comparison purposes.)
We influence the lives of our students and our regional economy.
ACM is a strong investment for students. According to a recent economic outlook study
of the 2022-23 academic year, our college outperforms the stock market. Our students
experience an average annual return of 19.6%, while the S&P 500 has delivered an average
return of 10.1%. From this report, we know that an ACM student gains $3.40 in lifetime
earnings for every dollar invested in their education.
For many of our students, their college degree is what moves them out of the cycle of poverty. After graduation, the average ACM alumni with an associate degree annually earns $7,500 more than a person with a high school diploma or GED. Over their working life, this amounts to $255,000 more in higher income.
As ACM builds opportunity for students, we continue to create wealth for our region. From 2022-23, our college added $95.8 million in income to our service area’s economy — roughly 2.0% of our region’s total gross regional product. If we consider $95.8 million instead in terms of jobs, we supported 1,533 positions.
Because our graduates generate larger incomes over time and are less likely to use government services, the present value of ACM amounts to $18.0 million in total taxpayer benefits.
Our partnerships enhance local opportunities.
As we join America’s community colleges that are leading the way in reinvigorating
the local and national economies, we continue to form partnerships to enhance our
local opportunities. We recently partnered with agencies, funders, and community leaders
on a range of projects.
In the year ahead, our college will build on these present-day collaborations as we work to provide access to high-quality, affordable higher education pathways for transfer to a university, career and technical education, and workforce training.
