HOLYOKE - Enrollment at Holyoke Community College shot up 13 percent this fall, prompting the college to hire more faculty and offer more courses.

The dramatic increase is part of a national trend on community college campuses. In the midst of a recession, students are looking to save money on education by attending typically less expensive public schools.

Overall, attendance at Massachusetts public higher education system is up by 7 percent this semester, according to the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education.

Undergraduate transfers to community colleges, the least expensive schools of the state system, are up by 32 percent, or 1,666 people.

However, of the 29 state institutions, Holyoke Community College saw the biggest enrollment gains.

"It's a very substantial increase," said Anne Sroka, HCC's director of marketing and public relations.

As of Oct. 8, the college had an enrollment of 7,473 students up 881 students from the 6,592 enrolled at that time in 2008.

"We had never cracked the 7,000 student threshold," Sroka said.

To handle the sharp increase in enrollment HCC added about 200 more classes to its offerings, mostly in the late afternoon and others that split class time online and on campus.

HCC hired 32 additional adjunct faculty to handle the extra courses and some existing faculty expanded their class load.

The college also paved over its tennis courts to add 200 parking spaces on campus.

"We added a lot of different sections of classes to make sure we'd have enough for people," Sroka said. "We made a valiant effort to do that."

Alexander Pangborn, president of HCC's student senate, said initial fears that an increase in students would lead to cramped classrooms, courses that filled up quickly and frustration have been dispelled.

"Actually, things have been great. The campus is more busy than it used to be," said Pangborn. "I think a lot of fears people came into the year expecting were worked out."

Across the public school system, Sarah Mealey, spokeswoman for the Board of Higher Education, said that although state programs may be at capacity Massachusetts' 29 colleges and universities could meet student needs. A task force was convened in May to analyze applications and predicted enrollment for the fall.

"There was particular emphasis on making certain that qualified students weren't being squeezed out due to capacity issues and left with no other options," Mealey said. "The system as a whole has the capacity to accept the enrollment growth that has materialized."

During the recession, in which public funds were slashed by 12 percent from what was spent in fiscal year 2009, or $123 million, to state colleges and universities, Mealey said the board attempted to help offset some of the losses by increasing funding for the MassGrant program. MassGrant is the state's primary need-based financial aid program.

Although funding for the program increased by 18 percent to more than $34 million, thereby helping students and relieving schools from providing even more institutional aid, students didn't see more cash. An increase in applications to the program dissipated individual awards.

The award "was lower than it has been in past years, but it's still a lot higher than it would have been without the improved financial aid budget."