In this brief, the authors examine changes in enrollments at the Los Angeles Community College District between fall 2017 and summer 2023 to document the extent of pandemic-era enrollment declines overall and across student populations.

Obtaining a postsecondary education is an important factor in long-term labour market success (Frenette 2019) and a key mechanism for achieving intergenerational income mobility (Simard-Duplain and St-Denis 2020). Previous research ending in 2014 documented substantial gaps in postsecondary enrolment rates between higher- and lower-income youth…

Declining enrollment quickly raises financial challenges within colleges and universities, such as decreased tuition and fee revenues, costs that can be difficult to nimbly control, and reputational risk. For public institutions within the same state, declining enrollment can also have a secondary impact: increasing competition. While a state's…

This quantitative, exploratory study examined the budget decisions made by administrative leaders and academic leaders at 15 Pennsylvania community colleges as measured by the Budget Criteria Instrument (BDCI). Sixty-two leaders ranked 15 budget criteria items on the 4-point Likert scale used by the BDCI and the responses were analyzed based on…

This paper presents a descriptive analysis of the impact of tuition fee increases in England on the full-degree mobility of undergraduate students from the European Union. First, we investigated whether the increase in tuition fees reduced the number of EU students in English higher education institutions. Our analysis shows that, on average,…

As a result of systemic barriers, undocumented immigrants are more likely to enroll in community colleges and to enter these institutions with higher prior academic achievement than their peers. I explore the potential spillover benefits of this hyperselection on other students using data from a large community college system and two…

Since 2011, the Ontario provincial government has made significant investments into improving the efficiency of vertical transfer--from community colleges to university--within its post-secondary education system. During this period, local policy analysts have repeatedly emphasized the need to account for geography when developing strategies to…

Smaller colleges and universities feel an increasing urgency to respond to an enrollment cliff, a decline in student matriculation created by demographic changes and the convenience and efficacy of online teaching modalities. This research study investigated the impact of digital maturity on enrollment in small colleges with registration of less…

This article studies state-developed courses in career and technical education (CTE) that offer students the opportunity to earn college credit during high school. Using a regression-discontinuity approach, we examine the effects of passing the end-of-course exam necessary to secure college credit on postsecondary enrollment and choice. We find…

The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on university enrollments around the world and caused significant challenges for students. This study examined how Canadian universities responded to the financial impacts of the pandemic on international and domestic students and how these responses differed. This work involved the identification and…

College and university rankings have received considerable attention throughout the world. To date, very little inquiry has examined the role of these rankings in shaping international student enrollment, which is surprising given many institutions' desire to recruit these students. The present study explores this issue by examining data from…

In this article, the authors sought to discover if participation in formal debate programs translates into better academic achievement and attainment for students. First, individual debaters' reading and math test scores over time were looked at and students were compared to themselves in years when they did and did not participate in debate. The…

Notable gaps in academic literature exist as it pertains to understanding the influence of institutional characteristics on modality enrollment patterns in the community college environment. Given these gaps, this study examined whether institutional control, locale, and size could serve as predictors of whether a community college is more…

This study examines enrollment melt patterns in a community college campus, aiming to quantify the predictive factors associated with students' likelihood of melting. Using a combination of survey and administrative data from applicants to a California Community College campus in Southern California, the author estimates changes in enrollment…

This study examined the effect of specialized orientation courses on community college student academic achievement and retention. The study utilized a quantitative design and compared the outcomes of specialized orientation courses to a more generalized orientation course. Due to the lack of previous research, there was little to suggest either a…