"College enrollment in Virginia rose 2% this year, despite the high cost, lingering questions about the value of a degree and the looming demographic cliff.

There are roughly 529,000 students at Virginia’s 60-plus colleges, up from 519,000 last year. Any increase, even a small one, is good news for schools, which face numerous challenges in enrolling more students.

'It’s hard to say there’s bad news here,' said Tod Massa, policy analytics director for the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV).

But the news wasn’t good for all schools. Radford and Christopher Newport continued to shrink, and concerns linger that small colleges in Virginia are in trouble.

Graduating college is generally a good thing for a community. People with college degrees make more money, are more likely to have health insurance and have greater life expectancy.

But many are choosing to enter the workforce instead of college. Others are questioning if college is worth the value. And the cost continues to rise — an in-state student at Virginia Commonwealth University pays $16,000 for one year of tuition and fees and $14,000 for room and board.

There are also concerns about a so-called enrollment cliff, in which the number of high school graduates is expected to decline nationwide.

And yet, colleges in Virginia are growing. The total number of students exceeded the 2019 figure of 525,000, representing a recovery from the pandemic," reports the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Photo: Students at VCU in 2021. Daniel Sangjib Min/Times-Dispatch