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Virginia Peninsula Community College reports rising enrollment, expanded workforce training and dual‑enrollment gains
Summary
At a June 2 York County Board of Supervisors work session VPCC officials told the board the college has reversed a multi‑year enrollment decline, reported growth in accelerated workforce training, and is seeing a sharp rise in dual‑enrolled high‑school students — trends officials said are linked to transfer agreements, targeted outreach and pandemic recovery.
Virginia Peninsula Community College officials told the York County Board of Supervisors on June 2 that the college is reversing a multi‑year decline in academic enrollment and is seeing growth across multiple workforce and transfer programs. "We're happy to report the college is in good health, especially as it pertains to academic enrollment," Todd Estus, identified in his presentation as VPCC's vice president for workforce development, told the board.
Estus and colleague Mark Vernon said the college has posted two consecutive years of academic enrollment growth and expects a third, attributing the improvement to a mix of efforts: strengthened transfer agreements with local universities, increased dual‑enrollment offerings in high schools, targeted outreach to military‑affiliated students and expanded short‑form workforce training known as Fast Forward. They explained that the state funds community colleges based on full‑time equivalent (FTE) students (12+ credits per semester). The presenters also described how dual‑enrolled high‑school students take VPCC courses (often taught by credentialed local teachers) and, in some cases, complete an associate degree before high‑school graduation.
On workforce training, VPCC described Fast Forward courses — noncredit, industry‑aligned programs delivered in two to 16 weeks that award credentials and aim to place students quickly into employment. Presenters reported roughly 20% year‑over‑year growth in Fast Forward for FY24–FY25 and said local strengths are maritime trades and healthcare allied occupations (CNA, medical assistance, EKG tech, medical billing and coding). Estus noted the college measures wage gains for cohorts and said VPCC shows significant average pre‑to‑post wage gains for program completers.
Presenters told the board the program faced a funding pullback in FY26 after several years of statewide overspending in Fast Forward supports; they characterized FY26 as a year in which the system adjusted to a reduced statewide allocation but said budget proposals in the General Assembly for FY27 would restore and grow Fast Forward funding if enacted. Staff offered to provide supervisors additional, itemized data requested during the meeting (program‑level placement rates, numbers of credentialed high‑school instructors, and campus‑level dual‑enrollment counts).
The presentation included a locality breakout showing York County representing about 16.4% of VPCC's academic enrollment and a growing share of dual‑enrolled students. VPCC said it is expanding physical capacity (new trade center, campus remodeling and a planned academic building on the main campus) to meet demand and will follow up with the board on the specific questions raised. The college left the board with student testimonies and invited supervisors to request further enrollment and outcome reports.
The board did not take formal action on the presentation; staff said they would return the requested supporting data after the meeting.
