Community colleges suffer huge losses in enrollment

Community colleges saw double-digit declines in enrollment this fall, according to the latest nationwide study, worrying experts about the long-term impact on the country’s workforce.

Public, two-year post-secondary enrollment declined by 10% — and by more than 21% among first-semester freshman — this fall compared to last year, according to figures released this month by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. The center counts 544,200 fewer students than in 2019.

“As the fall semester comes to a close, the impact of the pandemic seems to be disproportionately affecting disadvantaged students by keeping them out of college,” Doug Shapiro, the research center’s executive director, said in a statement. “The data reveal that community colleges and freshmen saw the steepest drops in enrollment, while the declines among four-year colleges and continuing undergraduates were generally much smaller.”

Students cited an inability to pay tuition and increased responsibilities such as working a second job as impediments to pursuing an associate’s degree.

The precipitous drop, compared with a 2.5% overall decline in college enrollment this fall, contrasts with the boom in two-year school enrollment immediately following the Great Recession. Two-year schools saw a 33% increase in enrollment between 2006 and 2011, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

But the coronavirus pandemic has doubly hit the community college-going population, as low- and middle-income students and minorities report having been disproportionately hurt financially.

“The pandemic is impacting economically fragile populations hardest,” said Devinder Malhotra, chancellor of Minnesota State, noting that enrollment was down across the public postsecondary system, which encompasses many two-year schools, by more than 5%. “These challenges can make it very difficult to continue an education.”

The average age of community college students is 28, and many tend to have families. In some rural areas, lack of adequate broadband internet can hamper learning. The consequences, say post-secondary industry observers, could be catastrophic for some schools.

In Oregon, Gov. Kate Brown has proposed a budget that is $61 million short of what the state’s community college system says it needs. In North Carolina, the community college system is requesting 98.5% of current funding, even though enrollment is falling, in order to stave off budget cuts. And in Wyoming, Gov. Mark Gordon is proposing a 15% budget reduction for all state agencies, which worries education leaders.

“Ultimately we will be forced to make some decisions here in the coming months that will have a pretty large impact on campus,” Lisa Watson, interim president of Northwest College in Wyoming, told trustees this month, according to the Powell Tribune.

Roughly a third of college-going Americans attend public, two-year schools, which provide associate’s degrees and certificates at fractions of the cost of four-year colleges. Many two-year schools also feed larger institutions.

But states fund community colleges roughly $9,000 fewer per student compared with the per-student expenditure for those attending four-year schools, says a fall study from the Center for American Progress.

Martha Parham, spokeswoman for the American Association of Community Colleges, noted that Congress included $23 billion for higher education in the supplemental stimulus bill passed this week. But in a year of budget hawks, she hopes putting Americans back to work community colleges will receive their due.

“Community colleges I dare say are serving more students with less,” Ms. Parham said.