MONTGOMERY COLLEGE
Office of Institutional Research & Analysis

Research Brief:

Montgomery County Population Changes, 1990 – 2000
And Some Implications for Montgomery College

 A recent publication of the Research & Technology Center, Montgomery County Department of Planning, Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission summarizes some population, race, and housing data that has implications for Montgomery College.  The publication identifies aspects of the County’s changes from 1990 to 2000, and focuses on how those are intensified in what M-NCPPC categorizes as the “southeastern area” of the County (Aspen Hill, Kensington/Wheaton, Kemp Mill/Four Corners, Colesville/White Oak, Fairland, Silver Spring, and Takoma Park).

Montgomery County’s growth from 1990 to 2000 was exceptional – an increase of 116,314 (to a total of 873,341 residents).  This was a 15% increase, compared to a statewide increase in population of 11% and a nationwide increase of 13%.  The volume and composition of the population increase have implications for Montgomery College.  The County minority population increased more than 145,000, and the number of immigrants from other countries was about 63,000—representing 186 different countries.

The geographical distribution of the increased diversity of the population is especially dramatized in the southeastern area, which contains one-third of the County’s residents.  The southeastern area increased in population by 11% and constituted one-fourth of the County’s growth in the last decade.  This section of the County is now 54.5% “minority” – minorities increased by more than 64,600 and some 25,000 immigrants arrived from 178 different countries.  And the immigrant population is young – three-fourths of them are under age 40, nearly two-thirds are between 15 and 34, and almost one in five (17%) are under age 15.

Housing patterns are directly related to economic conditions, and in the southeastern area of the County, 39% of the households are renting (compared to 31% Countywide).  Almost half (46%) of the households that are renters in the County are located in the southeastern area.  Renter-occupied housing is especially high in Silver Spring (65% of households) and Takoma Park (56% of households).  Median income for owner-occupied housing is over $77,800, while median income for renter-occupied housing is just over $40,900.

These data suggest that Montgomery College faces continued increased demand for its traditional credit, noncredit, and workforce development offerings as well as population-based needs for extended and expanded levels of English language, acculturation,  counseling, and financial aid programs and services.  The increased diversity of race, ethnicity, language, culture, and economics present special challenges for the Takoma Park campus, whose facilities and staffing are already stretched.  Expectations will be high for the Takoma Park campus to accommodate the educational needs of such a dramatically increasing and changing population.