Bolstered by growth in workforce education programs and the ballooning costs of post-secondary education in the U.S., community colleges experienced the highest increase in enrollment among all higher education sectors for the 2023-24 school year, according to National Student Clearinghouse data. As Community College Month winds down, we take a closer look at the growth.
Community colleges across the nation gained 118,000 students this academic year, a 2.6% increase from the previous year. Community colleges serve about 40% of postsecondary students nationwide and offer tuition that is often significantly less than four-year institutions. The colleges also allow for flexible scheduling options that make higher education more accessible for students from a variety of backgrounds.
“As college gets more and more expensive, people are looking for ways to maximize their funds,” said Martha Parham, senior vice president of public relations at the American Association of Community Colleges.
In fact, tuition at the nation’s community colleges remains a fraction of that at four-year public and private institutions. For the 2023-24 school year, the average cost of tuition and fees at public two-year colleges was $3,990, compared to $11,260 at public four-year institutions.
However, a variety of factors may have an outsized impact on community college enrollment in the near future. These colleges may be particularly hard hit by this year’s delays in federal student aid and complications with the rollout of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), Parham said.
Institutions across the country are grappling with the fallout of the revamping of the FAFSA, which was supposed to make applying for financial aid easier. But instead the process has been plagued by delays and technical issues that have frustrated students and left them with more questions than answers about the cost of a college education.
In a recent survey of enrollment trends by New America, nearly three in four students said inflation and rising prices was a concern. Almost a quarter said the impact of inflation was a major reason for starting, but not completing, community college programs.
“This is an issue that we are watching closely,” Parham said. “We know that funding is a barrier for many people. For community colleges, we know that if students aren’t able to get their funding processed, they just won’t attend college. That is a slightly different scenario than four-year institutions.”
Community colleges will continue to play a role in providing access to non-traditional students who would otherwise have trouble accessing a postsecondary education, including working adults, parents, and those from low-income backgrounds, Parham said.
Community colleges have made great strides in the last decade or more by focusing on student success and increasing retention and graduation rates, she said. This has required institutional leaders to think outside the box on new ways to serve non-traditional populations.
Many institutions have come up with new and creative ways to support students and eliminate barriers to academic success and graduation, which often involve basic unmet needs, like access to food, housing and technology to complete coursework.
To provide access to healthy food options, Compton College, a community college outside of Los Angeles, provides a $20 voucher to each student per week to access fresh food and vegetables at the on-campus farmers’ market. Other schools such as Long Beach City College, also in California, established a Basic Needs Center on campus to provide a one-stop shop for food, housing and transportation resources, and partnered with mobile providers for cell phone needs.
“There’s really been a movement to meet students where they are at,” Parham said.
Besides offering pathways to complete a bachelor’s degree, community colleges are increasingly building upon non-credit offerings such as workforce education programs, stackable credential options, and certificate programs, which have helped to sustain overall enrollment and provide critical needs in the communities that these schools serve. Community colleges serve about 10 million students in the nation, and four million of those students are enrolled in non-credit offerings, Parham said.
Community colleges also serve as a hub for vocational and technical programs that equip students with skills and certifications needed to succeed in various industries. As technology advances and workforce needs change, these institutions offer programs that equip students with numerous skills and certifications. Credentials can be very specific, like a certificate in slot machine repair or cyber security, or broader, like auto repair, forestry, emergency medical services and veterinary medicine.
Big businesses also continue to capitalize on community college partnerships to fulfill unmet needs in their workforce, which is becoming more significant in an era marked by rapid technological changes and the use of generative artificial intelligence or AI.
“These partnerships are becoming more and more important,” Parham said, “especially if [employers] are trying to diversify their workforce.”
