Enrollment at community colleges is down. The data is clear, says Dr. Martha Parham, senior vice president of public relations for the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC). Data from the National Student Clearinghouse shows that enrollment in fall 2020 was down 10.6% from fall 2019 for full-time students and 9.9% for part-time students. The biggest declines were among African American males at 19.2% and Native American males at 20.1%.
“Students of color, in particular Black and Brown students, didn’t re-enroll,” says Dr. Eboni M. Zamani-Gallaher, director of the Office of Community College Research and Leadership at the University of Illinois and executive director of the Council for the Study of Community Colleges.
“There’s an access issue,” says Zamani-Gallaher. “The pandemic has lifted the veil and has exacerbated what has already been some differentials, particularly in terms of racial inequities.”
The COVID-19 effect
In previous economic downturns, by example 2008–09, community college enrollment went up, notes Zamani-Gallaher. Even people who already had associate’s or bachelor’s degrees enrolled.
“They were utilizing community colleges to retool and to try to have a more competitive skill set to meet local industry needs and to rebound in terms of employability,” says Zamani-Gallaher.
Heading into the fall 2020 semester, the thought was that numbers would hold steady, but that didn’t prove to be the case. A significant obstacle has been that some students could not adapt to distance learning. Zamani-Gallaher says many first-time students decided to wait until face-to-face classes resume. Others who were enrolled when higher education moved to online learning in the spring of 2020 either did not have access to the necessary technology or they found online learning too difficult.
