Corning Community College hosted its annual job fair on Thursday, with employers from a wide range of industries.
"I'm looking for a full time summer job. I'm doing a lot of networking right now," said Alexander Vandemark, a Corning Community College Student.
Job fairs and networking opportunities like this occur frequently at the school, yet enrollment is down. This isn't only a problem in Corning; it's a growing problem for community colleges across the state.
Last year, Corning saw a 2 percent decrease in enrollment. Though it is a small drop, it's enough of a drop that Corning officials have begun devising a plan.
"We as a community college need to get our message out better that we are a really good economic deal for students," said Jeanne Eschbach of Corning Community College.
Tuition for a full-time student who lives in the state is less than $2,500 a semester.
According to Eschbach, students can get a valuable education without too much debt.
"I think people don't know necessarily, so that's really one of the things we're trying to work on, starting with middle school students," Eschbach said.
They plan on bringing middle school students to the community college, so they can see first hand what kind of experience they could have in the future.
They are also making efforts to highlight the jobs available after graduation -- something current students can vouch for.
"A lot of engineers at Corning and different engineering plants, they started at community college," said Vandemark.
Even employers say that graduating from a community college gives people a leg up when applying for jobs.
"I think community college is great," said Laura Mallette of GST BOCES. "People are very eager, so hopefully they'll get hired by us or someone else."
Officials say the number of students graduating from high school is also down, contributing to the decline in enrollment.
Though enrollment is down, officials say the rate of students employed after graduation has never been higher.