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KIRKSVILLE, MO. -- The economy is largely to blame for higher enrollment at a local community college.

Moberly Area Community College is reporting an overall increase in enrollment of 17 percent at all campuses.
    
The Kirksville branch is holding nearly steady but has also seen a slight increase near 5 percent.
    
A total head count of 396 students were enrolled in the Kirksville campus Monday afternoon.

“I think people are watching what they're getting for their dollar now with the economy the way it is and I think they've decided they want to get the best value,” said Kirksville Higher Education Center Director Artie Fowler.
 
Fowler says other reasons responsible for the increase in enrollment could be the convenience of being close to home.
    
She says plenty of students are non-traditional and attend m-a-c-c for re-training purposes or to finish classes to receive a degree.
    
Tuesday is the last day to enroll in classes at MACC for the fall semester.

Many of the students at MACC are non-traditional and have decided to go back to school to be more competitive in the job force.

“The economy really in this area has been difficult.  I worked retail management and when you work retail management there's only so many retail establishments that you can work at it makes it difficult to find one if those positions are filled and if that's the only field that you're really trained in then you have to do something different and so that's what I chose to do,” said MACC student Kristine Gabbitas.