(RALEIGH) -- There are nearly 900,000 students enrolled in community colleges across North Carolina. Scott Ralls, the President of the state community college system, says enrollment has gone up 28 percent over the last two years, partly because people need to be re-educated after they've lost work.

"In terms of industry development, as well as the employment security commission, I often say community colleges are unique, we're sort of the seam in seamless education, the ones who kind of bind it together in many ways, and that's the unique role that we play," Ralls said.

Ralls says students graduating from high school believe going to community colleges for the first two years of their education is more cost-effective.