The new president of NHTI got a real New Hampshire welcome when his family arrived in Concord from southern Virginia just as a January blizzard began.

“They were throwing the furniture off the truck as the first flakes were starting to fall,” recalled Patrick Tompkins. “It was interesting.”

His new job will also be interesting.

Concord’s community college is part of a higher-education world that was getting more difficult before the pandemic hit and has been rocked since. Full-time enrollment in credential degree programs fell at NHTI by almost 600 students, roughly 10%, between 2014 and 2020. Then COVID hit and enrollment fell by another 1,000 students over the next two years, falling almost one-quarter from 6,397 to to 4,806 in eight years.

Concord is not alone. Enrollment in public two-year colleges throughout the U.S. has fallen by more than a third in a dozen years, from 7 million in 2010 to 4.5 million in fall of 2022, according to data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. There is some indication that the decline has ended but it hasn’t turned around in most places.

As a community college, degree programs aren’t the only measure of success. NHTI also provides workforce education, adult education and certificate programs. But students seeking associate degrees remains its core model.

Tompkins, 59, is familiar with the issues facing community colleges in a state system. He held positions at several community colleges in Virginia, most recently vice president for Academic, Student and Workforce Education at Eastern Shore Community College in Melfa, Virginia, on the rural Delmarva Peninsula. He noted that Virginia, like New Hampshire, is not known for spending much on public colleges – “It’s not Illinois, not New Jersey” – but that the cost per credit at the community college has gone up just $5 a credit hour since 2011.

The school’s operating budget is around $24 million, of which about 40% comes from tuition payments, meaning a decline in enrollment cuts revenue. “We used to be more tuition-driven,” he said.

The future might be tougher in New England than the mid-Atlantic region because of our demographics, with high school populations falling in New Hampshire and our neighbors, but Tompkins is optimistic.

“America is starting to question the value of higher education … but they don’t question the value of a community college education because they’re able to see the value,” he said in a wide-ranging interview.

One reason for optimism is the possibility of the economy slowing and a shortage of a skilled workforce. Community college enrollments have traditionally followed an inverse pattern from the economy: When times are good people get jobs instead of more education, but when work is hard to find they look to bolster their credentials.

“If you’re an 18-year-old and you’re making $17 an hour … you think you’re in high cotton, as we say. But at some point those folks are going to realize they’ll need a career,” he said.

NHTI, which dates back to 1965 when New Hampshire first created community colleges, was called New Hampshire Technical Institute until 2007. The name change to NHTI, Concord’s Community College was designed to emphasize its connection to the state’s two-year-degree system, which has seven community colleges, including in Manchester and Laconia, and five academic centers.

“I like that we have athletics, I think that enriches a college, is a great way to get people interested in education,” Tompkins said. “I also like that we have dorms; that’s another vibrant aspect of the campus, gives it a campus feel. And the student clubs and organizations are vibrant.”

The school’s course offerings are varied as well.

“There’s some unique programming,” he said, pointing to dental hygiene and nursing, as well as its mindfulness curriculum, which provides certifications on some degree-program English and science courses that “use mindful communication and emotional intelligence into the teaching of core course content,” which emphasizes “increased ability to focus, improved working memory, improved problem solving, reduced reactivity, reduced stress, and improved health,” according to the program description.

But he said change is necessary, too.

“When I started in this business it was a slow, lazy game, now it’s a fast-moving game – and that’s nationwide,” he said. “If we have the same mix of programs in 1 ½ or 2 years that we have now, then this president has not done the job.”

One example of change is online classes.

“Before the pandemic, some students wanted on-campus and some student wanted all-online. The ones they hated the most was hybrid. … They got through it, they survived, but they weren’t happy about it,” Tompkins said.

That has changed.

“We see that students are taking more of the hybrid campus. … They may say, I’ll do history online but that calculus class? I want that on campus because I want a teacher I can ask questions to, face to face.”

One constant issue with associate degree schools is transferring credits to four-year colleges. Tompkins was interviewed the day after the vice presidents of the state’s community college and university system had met to talk about the issue, creating a core curriculum guaranteed to transfer.

“There’s very little reason why courses and credits should not transfer among higher education institutions in New Hampshire,” he said.

But there are complications, such how subjects get divided between courses. Tompkins pointed to mathematics. “The math curriculum, where you break up college algebra and pre-calculus, can vary from institution to institution.” A key is to agree on learning outcomes rather than processes.

“That hasn’t been done in New Hampshire to the extent it has been done in North Carolina or Virginia, but I’m encouraged to see it happening,” he said.

As he settles into the job, Tompkins said the thing that makes him most optimistic, and contributed to his decision to take the job, is NHTI’s reputation.

“This college is beloved in this community; that’s one of the things that really encourages me. Alums tell me how much they loved this college, how it changed their lives.  ... We have challenges at NHTI, but talent is not one of them … educators are focused on students, and they’re committed to the mission,” he said.

Tompkins and his husband, John, have a 9-year-old son, Amaree, who attends Penacook Elementary School. They’re still settling in, too – including learning about New Hampshire weather: “Amaree told us: ‘I like the snow. But not that much snow.”

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