VPCC tells James City County supervisors enrollment is rising and new workforce programs are coming
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Summary
Virginia Peninsula Community College officials reported two consecutive years of academic enrollment growth, growth in dual enrollment tied to state CCRV rules, new Fast Forward workforce programs for hospitality and behavioral-health technicians, and stronger retention and employment outcomes for graduates.
Virginia Peninsula Community College officials told the James City County Board of Supervisors that the college is reversing years of falling enrollment and is expanding local workforce and dual-enrollment offerings.
Todd Estes, VPCC vice president for workforce development and innovation, told the board the college has posted two consecutive years of academic enrollment growth and is on track for a third: “the college is quite healthy,” he said, and credited an aggressive enrollment-management plan, community engagement, new career navigators and increased dual enrollment for the gains. Estes said VPCC’s Fast Forward accelerated training programs have grown but this year exceeded the state-provided Fast Forward financial-aid allocation, which constrained FY26 enrollment in those programs.
Dr. Scott Stauble, VPCC interim associate vice president for academic affairs, said dual enrollment — high-school students taking college courses for concurrent credit — has grown significantly since 2021 and that recent changes correcting student-address coding shifted local counts without changing overall participation. “Don’t let the numbers throw you,” Stauble said, explaining the shift came from corrected residence coding and not a change in total dual-enrollment participation. He added that retention and completion have trended upward due to expanded tutoring, intrusive advising and student engagement initiatives.
Tracy Wright, director of campus and community initiatives at VPCC’s Historic Triangle campus, highlighted outcomes for career-technical graduates: roughly 80.9% of students who complete a career-technical credential find employment within 18 months, and nearly 78% are employed within six months. Wright also noted facility upgrades and new local programming: a renovated Hampton-campus theater reopened this January and the Center for Excellence in Early Childhood Development opened in partnership with Newport News. VPCC plans two new local Fast Forward programs — hospitality and a behavioral-health technician track — and will open a trade center in Newport News that will offer marine, industrial and welding training.
Supervisors praised VPCC’s work and asked about local dual-enrollment rates. Estes and Stauble said VPCC is partnering with Williamsburg-James City County Schools to expand course offerings required by state CCRV legislation and to recruit instructors so high schools can offer more dual-enrollment options in the coming academic years.
The presentation closed with board members and residents thanking VPCC for workforce training that feeds local employers; no formal board action resulted from the update.
