MPTC Enrollment Down

When students return to classes at Moraine Park Technical College campuses in two weeks the college will have fewer of them. Moraine Park President Bonnie Baerwald says the stronger economy and lower unemployment rates are having an impact on their enrollment. She says it looks like they will be down about 6 percent, but they are doing what they can to try and recoup some of those numbers. She says there is a worker shortage, but it has more to do with a declining population and the retirement of baby boomers. She says they had a listening session in Hartford Wednesday and that is one of the things they kept hearing. She says we need to figure out ways to recruit and retain new populations of families to come join our communities.