While small colleges and community colleges seem to struggle during economic downturns, there is plenty of evidence suggesting that higher education is recession-proof (or at least recession-resistant). Earlier this week, Select Greater Philadelphia released its 2010 Higher Education Impact report, an updated version of its 2007 study, and the findings were largely encouraging:

- Full time equivalent enrollments increased from 275,811 to 295,603;

- Certificates and degrees awarded increased from 71,041 to 80,533;

- Total employment expanded from 66,006 to 70,357;

- Total student and institutional operations spending grew from $14.58 billion to $16.27 billion; and

- Average annual capital spending increased from $528.5 million to $584.8 million.

The full report, which focused on an 11-county, three-state region and included data from 101 degree-granting institutions, can be found here.