College enrollment is bouncing back after a pandemic-era slump. According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, enrollment grew by 2.5% this spring.

Leading the way are the nation’s community colleges. That sector of higher education made up about 55% of the recent bump. But the students who are returning to community college classrooms today are less interested in earning a bachelor’s degree. They’re coming for vocational training and high-tech skills.

The biotechnology associate’s degree and certificate program at Middlesex Community College is among the many STEM-focused areas that are attracting students to a community college education in eastern Massachusetts. The major aims to prepare students for careers in the region’s biotech industry. The school even has a clean room lab space.

Entering the clean room requires some of the procedures many pharmaceutical companies use. Before walking in, students have to wash their hands thoroughly and then cover most of their body with personal protective equipment like gloves, hair nets, a long lab gown, a face mask and safety glasses. 

Veronica Tay, one of the school’s laboratory technicians, explained that students should become familiar with decontamination procedures like these.

“Everything that you’re making, everything that you’re touching [at a real pharma lab] is destined to go in someone’s body,” Tay said. “You have to keep your eye on the prize.”

Middlesex tries to make this lab feel as realistic as possible. Students even work with live cells.

Currently, students over 25 can get free tuition in Massachusetts, which otherwise runs about $13,000 per year. New graduates often find jobs nearby with starting salaries of $55,000, according to school officials.

This biotech program has been around for more than 30 years. But officials decided to invest even more into the major, which included plans to build this clean room about 10 years ago. That was around when Massachusetts community colleges were starting to move away from their traditional role of being a steppingstone to a four-year degree. Today, they’re more of a training ground for high-tech and other jobs in the region. 

“They are playing an increasing role in linking people directly to employment opportunities. Particularly in that modern technician space,” said Bob LePage, the Massachusetts assistant secretary for career education.

He says the biggest growth area right now is in new environmentally friendly heating, ventilation and air conditioning technologies like heat-pump installation. Cybersecurity is in demand too. 

“It’s become more visible, in part because of market demand,” LePage added. “And in part because individuals are thirsting for upward mobility.” 

Recently, the growth in free community college initiatives in the area have turbocharged the trend. David Daigler, president of the Maine Community College System, said vocational programs and associate’s degrees in high-tech fields have been a popular choice for incoming students.

“They’re looking to become plumbers and electricians. They’re looking to become fabricators and precision manufacturers,” he explained.

In addition to increasing the supply of workers with special skills, community college grads also tend to come from diverse age and cultural backgrounds. For gas and electricity provider Eversource, which partners with community colleges in New England to provide internships and other workforce-building programs, that’s been a huge benefit.

Community colleges “have a reach into the communities that extends beyond what we can do,” said Alex Coulbourn, a director of training at Eversource. “How they market to different types of communities extends for us as well.”

For Megan Guros, a recent graduate of the Middlesex Community College biotech program, student diversity was also a big draw when she decided to go back to school in her late 30s. 

“There’s all ages, all backgrounds and all ethnicities,” said Guros. “I didn’t feel uncomfortable returning to school being 20 years older than typical college students. And I feel like that really makes the experience stronger.” 

And she added, it helps that her degree is leading to a well-paying career in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry without her taking on a mountain of student debt.