It’s still too early to get solid numbers on fall enrollments at community colleges, but it definitely feels like the uptick from the spring and last fall will continue.
A growing number of community colleges across the country are releasing preliminary fall enrollment figures and providing a glimpse of their efforts that are supporting some of those increases.
Yuba College (YB) in northern California reports its headcount this fall at more than 6,400, surpassing its pre-Covid enrollment peak of about 6,300 in fall 2019. During the pandemic, enrollment dropped to just under 5,700. The college developed a strategy that included investments in staffing that support the enrollment process, strengthening outreach to key demographics and revising the scheduling process to fit students’ needs better, according to President Tawny Dotson, who became YC’s leader in the midst of the pandemic.
YC is also launching several new programs that it hopes will continue to increase enrollments, including a teacher preperation program in partnership with California State University, Chico that will allow students to earn their baccalaureate from the university while attending YC.
YC also has committed to not canceling courses less than two weeks before the start of class.
“We knew there were students who weren’t returning yet because they wanted face-to-face classes, so we needed to commit to not canceling those classes, even if they were low enrolled, and it seems to have worked,” Jeremy Brown, vice president of instruction, said in a release.
Driven by a Promise, dual enrollment and more
In Texas, the Alamo Colleges District is reporting fall enrollment near 77,191 students — a 13.7% increase over last fall. Those students include 6,700 new AlamoPROMISE scholars. And the district’s dual-credit enrollment has jumped nearly 17% from last fall, to 16,518 students among its five colleges.
The campuses also this year are launching new programs with several local K-12 school districts, including early college high school and P-Tech programs.
In addition to the record-setting numbers of new students attending Alamo Colleges, the district has also seen an increase in continuing student enrollment, which increased about 11%, to 37,097.
The district anticipated the growth for the academic year and made investments to increase faculty and student-focused strategies that include AlamoPROMISE, advocacy centers, wraparound services and more.
In Nebraska, Southeast Community College (SCC) is seeing its enrollment exceed 10,000 students for the first time in over a decade. As of August 27, SCC reported its preliminary figures for its three campuses and dual-credit program at 10,584 students — an estimated 9% increase from the previous fall semester.
College officials note that SCC has also for the first time made on-campus student housing available starting this past spring, with many of its student-housing facilities at capacity.
“This development is consistent with our vision to create destinations and the highest quality learning climates. When you step onto the Beatrice, Lincoln or Milford campuses or one of our learning centers, it is a completely different experience for our students than it was 10 years ago,” said President Paul Illich in a press release.
Growth across the board
The Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) on Wednesday announced that, as of August 23, enrollment among its 16 colleges reached 66,114 students, an increase of 8.4%, or 5,145 more students compared to last fall. Across the system, credential-seeking headcount grew by 7.2%, while credit-bearing workforce, non-degree headcount jumped 16.4%, according to KCTCS.
Dual enrollment has grown by 11.6% over last fall and represents 23.5% of the system’s total enrollment. By the end of the semester it will likely reach 35%, KCTCS says.
Non-tradition enrollment — which includes adults ages 25 and older — is also growing. It increased this fall by 10.4%, and comprises 32% of total enrollment, the system says.
KCTCS is also seeing increases among races and ethnicities. Enrollment among Hispanic/Latinx students is up 22.2%, and among students of two or more races it has increased 13.5%. Black/African American student enrollment is up 12.5%.
In addition, the system is reporting increases in industry programs, citing financial support for students through the Work Ready Kentucky Scholarship program as fueling the boost. Healthcare programs have seen a 17% jump, followed by construction (10.6%), advanced manufacturing (8.7%), business and IT services (3.4%) and transportation and logisitics (2.8%).
Students also continue to tap online programs. This fall, 71.5% of students are enrolled in at least one online course, KCTCS says.
Quick takes
Below is a snapshot of what some other two-year colleges are experiencing this semester so far.
- In Arizona, Pima Community College (PCC) reported that first-day fall enrollment on August 26 was 53,896, up 4% compared to the first day of fall classes last year. This continues an upward enrollment trend at PCC over the past two years. The numbers don’t include dual enrollment, which college officials expect to sharply increase again this fall. Last year, 6,027 high school students enrolled in PCC’s dual-enrollment classes.
- In New York, Hudson Valley Community College began the fall semester this week with more than 6,800 full-time and part-time credit-bearing students, a 9.5% increase from last fall. Preliminary numbers show the college up in new, returning and transfer students at 6.6%, 9.4% and 8%, respectively. The number of non-matriculated, or part-time students not enrolled in a degree or certificate program, jumped 14.6% over fall 2023. HVCC also reports that the number of students taking online courses continues to trend upward. This fall, nearly 60% of full-time and part-time students are taking at least one course online. The college also has added four new degrees and certificates this fall and opened its new STEM Education Center that houses labs for microbiology, anatomy and physiology, chemistry and biology, as well as classrooms, student support space and offices.
- Minnesota’s Normandale Community College projects a 15% increase in enrollment after the end of its first full week last week. It cites an ambitious College Services Renovation project to centralize student services in order to make it easier for students to navigate. Normandale also revamped its strategic framework in 2022 that focuses on being a more student-ready college by increasing efforts to provide resources in its tutoring center and computer lab, distributing laptops and other key academic technology needs to students, and revamping the structure and processes for its advising, counseling and career center.
