The booming job market may be deterring people from continuing their education.

Some Wyoming community colleges are noticing a drop in adult or non-traditional student enrollment for the coming fall, while the number of new high school graduates enrolling is normal.

At Casper College adult student enrollment for the fall semester is down between 150 and 200 people from this time last summer. Sheridan College has about 70 fewer non-traditional students signed up between its Sheridan and Gillette campuses.

"Quite frankly, the employment market is so good, we seem to be losing adult student applications," Casper College vice president Jim Ochiltree told the college's board recently.

Most new jobs created in Wyoming don't require more than a high school diploma, and some pay more than a person could earn in a field where a college degree is required.

Ochiltree said the difference doesn't appear to be affecting one program more than another.

A loss of enrollment can harm both a college's state funding and its tuition revenue.

In response, Casper College is increasing its efforts to improve its "conversion" rate: getting people who express interest in the college and apply to actually enroll. Admissions staff recently placed phone calls to hundreds of potential students and were able to get more people than usual to come to a June 23 registration day, Ochiltree said.

"What you're trying to do is make sure students know you're interested in them as a student and that you want to be helpful," he said.

Later this summer the college will run ad campaigns reminding people it's time to register. Late registration day is Aug. 25.

Sheridan College officials hope people are just taking longer to enroll this year.

"We still think we're in a pretty good position to have our enrollment increase or remain flat by this fall," said Mark Englert, dean of student and enrollment services.

The enrollment drop-off might even be worse, colleges say, if they weren't doing so much to accommodate working students.

"The community colleges all have worked hard to become better at providing flexible scheduling in what we would call non-traditional program offerings, and we have also been accustomed to fluctuations in our economy," Englert said.

"If the economy's good, we can encourage them to stay engaged in college while they're working."

In some programs, like construction, time on the job can count toward credit for the degree.

Other classes are offered at night or on the weekends.

At Western Wyoming Community College, student affairs dean Jackie Freeze said enrollment is steady at around 3,700 but more adult students are attending part-time rather than full-time.

A new associate's degree in oil and gas technology is proving popular. All the classes for it can be taken at night, Freeze said. Same for the industrial maintenance program. The programs help people move up to better-paying jobs in the extraction industries.

"We really try to support the industries," Freeze said.

Online classes are also popular around the state. They began at Western five years ago and now there are 1,800 online enrollments, about 10 percent of the total. People who work for long stretches at a time and then have many days off find online classes easier to manage, Freeze said.

"If they can do their homework at their leisure, they can continue to take classes."

Laramie County Community College said enrollment hasn't declined but has leveled off after a period of growth. The college has 12 degrees that can be completed entirely online and specialty training centers to support industry, said Jenny Hargett, assistant director of enrollment services.

Englert in Sheridan took a positive view of the situation with adult workers.

"The good news is, many of those people, we've trained and prepared to go out in the workforce."

Reach Barbara Nordby at (307) 266-0633 or at barbara.nordby@casperstartribune.net.