The Imagine America Foundation, formerly the Career College Association, has released its first economic impact study as part of the group’s effort to change public attitudes about its institutions.   The study asserts that, on average, career college students earned a 31% return on their tuition investments based on the higher wages they will earn over their lifetimes.

Career college graduates earn approximately $9,230 more per year, or $337,000 over their lifetimes, compared with the wages earned by high school graduates.

The Imagine America Foundation is a 1,400 member association of for-profit colleges, most of which offer certificates and associate degrees in fields like health care, business, information technology, and hospitality.

Over 2.1 million students are enrolled in the U.S.’s 2,694 career colleges, up 23% since the 2003-04 academic year.  In 2006, 61 percent of the credentials awarded by career colleges were certificates, 23 percent were associate degrees, 9 percent were bachelor’s, 7 percent were master’s, and 1 percent were professional or doctoral degrees.

The study claims that the overall economic impact of the for-profit sector is nearly $39-billion, taking into account the $14.6-billion in revenue going to the colleges and the additional $4-billion that students spend beyond tuition to attend, along with the indirect impact of the higher wages earned by career-college graduates and the added value they bring to the industries where they go to work.

When asked if the degrees awarded by career colleges are worth it, Harris N. Miller, the association’s president, replied “In a bottom-line sense, absolutely yes”.

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Thousands of students enroll in community and junior colleges every year, generally as an alternative to higher priced private and public 4-year colleges.  In the past that meant foregoing the “college experience” complete with sports teams, dorm life, student government and  lots of school spirit in exchange for less stringent admissions requirements, low per-unit costs, flexible schedules and a shorter path to a degree (an associate’s degree).

Junior and community colleges still offer these great benefits, but, in response to the demands throngs of students ages 18-24, they are now attempting to provide a more authentic college experience by adding or expanding athletic programs.  Students–both those interested in playing sports and those who simply want to cheer them on–are responding by enrolling in greater numbers to those community and junior colleges that boast athletic teams.  And that’s just what the colleges’ presidents had in mind.

The National Junior College Athletics Association has reportedly added more than 40 colleges since 2003, ten of those in 2006 alone, bringing their total membership to 500 colleges.

Here’s a sampling of the new additions:

2006

• Arkansas Baptist College (Little Rock, Ark.)
• Berean Institute (Philadelphia)
• Coastal Bend College (Beeville, Tex.)
• Guilford Technical Community College (Jamestown, N.C.)
• Jackson Community College (Jackson, Mich.)
• Little Big Horn College (Crow Agency, Mont.)
• Marion Military Institute (Marion, Ala.)
• Mayland Community College (Spruce Pine, N.C.)
• Simmons College of Kentucky (Louisville, Ky.)
• University of South Carolina at Lancaster (Lancaster, S.C.)

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