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Baltimore City Community College reports enrollment gains, facilities damage and staffing gaps amid budget review
Summary
BCCC officials told the subcommittee enrollment has increased year over year and the college secured accreditation reaffirmation, but a boiler‑room fire took a main building offline and the school continues to operate with a high vacancy rate; analysts and witnesses discussed the Mayor Scholars program and decentralization of Promise funds.
Baltimore City Community College President Deborah McCurdy told the Education and Economic Development Subcommittee that the college’s enrollment has risen across multiple terms but that a recent boiler‑room fire in the Life Sciences Building has taken roughly 80,000 square feet offline and disrupted labs and clinical programs.
The DLS budget analysis presented to the panel recorded enrollment trends at BCCC: after pandemic declines, the college’s total enrollment increased in fall 2023 and again in fall 2024 (DLS reported an 11.1% increase in fall 2024). DLS also highlighted the college’s successful persistence metrics, an upward trend in first‑time student numbers, and sizable year‑to‑year growth in dual‑enrollment students.
McCurdy said the campus received reaffirmation of accreditation from the Middle States Commission and highlighted workforce and program accreditations for nursing and dental hygiene. But she said a fire in the main boiler room of the Life Sciences Building disrupted about 172 course sections, rendered 37 classrooms unusable in the near term and will require substantial cleanup and repairs; college officials estimated cleanup alone could approach $1 million.
The DLS analyst also identified an apparent inconsistency in FTE reporting between MHEC and the college that warrants reconciliation; DLS asked the college to work with MHEC and DBM to ensure consistent FTE counts in the funding formula for FY26. McCurdy’s staff explained that an additional continuing‑education FTE count (roughly 1,006 continuing‑education eligible FTEs) appeared in some exhibits and should be reconciled against the credit FTE totals used in the formula.
Other issues raised at the hearing included a 32.5% vacancy rate at the college. McCurdy said retirements and resignations contributed to vacancies and that the college is revamping hiring and human resources processes and recently purchased an applicant‑tracking system to speed recruitment. Union and faculty representatives who testified (AFSCME Local 1870 and AFT Maryland) also urged workplace improvements, quicker Americans with Disabilities Act accommodation processing, and caution about contracts with outside law firms.
On student programs, DLS asked for a report on enrollment in the Mayor Scholars Program (BCCC’s last‑dollar scholarship effort for Baltimore City students). McCurdy and program staff said retention has improved in recent cohorts and that the college has integrated the Mayor Scholars work into standard admissions, financial aid and advising functions rather than an isolated unit. McCurdy described summer orientation and one‑stop registration events intended to increase yield and retention.
Why it matters: BCCC is a major community college serving Baltimore City; enrollment trends, facility disruptions and high vacancy rates affect course delivery and student outcomes. The committee asked for further reconciliations of FTE counts, follow‑up on the Mayor Scholars enrollment report, and clarity about how Promise scholarship decentralization affects community colleges’ spending and award processes. No appropriations actions were decided during the hearing.
