Community colleges fared better this year than other higher education institutions in attracting students following an enrollment nosedive over the pandemic.
Compared to fall 2021, enrollment rates fell the least at community colleges this year — 0.4 percent — compared to other undergraduate institutions, according to a new National Student Clearinghouse Research Center report.
The highest decline in undergraduate enrollments over the past year happened at four-year for-profit colleges at 2.5 percent, with four-year public schools seeing a decline of 1.6 percent.
Jon Fansmith, assistant vice president for government relations at the American Council on Education, said the enrollment for the community colleges is a good sign for recovery, but emphasized during an interview with The Hill that community colleges were one of the hardest-hit institutions during the pandemic.
“They were the center of higher education, outside of the for-profits, that lost the largest share of enrollment over the pandemic,” Fansmith said. “[Community colleges] lost the smallest percentage in enrollment this year. But that follows two cycles of very substantial enrollment declines."
Fansmith said there are multiple reasons why community colleges were hit hardest, including the tight labor market during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, where employers were looking for employees and individuals going into certificate programs.
Those who were interested in community college might have found it more beneficial to get into the workforce as quickly as possible during the pandemic.
While struggles hit all institutions during the COVID-19 outbreak, the report showed a rise in dual-enrolled high school students that contributed to community colleges' smallest enrollment decline.
Dual-enrolled high school students increased 11.5 percent, and enrolled students in the 18- to 20-year-old age group went up by 1.4 percent in community colleges.
One explanation for the dual enrollment increase is that most high school students have returned to in-person learning.
Traditional-age students, ages 18 to 20, saw one of the biggest bumps in enrollment across the board at 0.5 percent, along with Latino student enrollments at 1.2 percent, according to the report. All other demographics saw declines in fall 2022.
Fansmith noted community college enrollment could look better than other institutions this past year because other higher education institutions have experienced a decline in their numbers that dates back before the pandemic.
“The pattern of declining enrollments has held true over the last decade,” Fansmith said. “In some ways, this is a little bit of a return to normalcy because pre-pandemic we were seeing declines in enrollment rates,” especially in areas with declining demographics.
College enrollments have become one of the ways education officials are evaluating a rebound from COVID-19 as matriculation plummeted during the pandemic.
Over the past two years, undergraduate enrollment has fallen 4.2 percent while undergraduate enrollment compared to last year fell 1.1 percent as colleges got back to in-person learning.
The data from the report is preliminary, based on 10.3 million students, both undergraduate and graduate, and among the 62 percent of Title IX institutions participating in the report.
