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.

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…

Four years after the onset of COVID-19, enrollment and persistence at community colleges is rebounding, although still not to prepandemic levels. Community college leaders report that a key strategy in encouraging enrollment and persistence is a drive toward more flexibility in course formats, including modes of delivery modality, materials, and…

California's public higher education institutions have been crucial in positioning the state as the 5th largest economy in the world. The economic benefits of higher education include higher annual wages, lifetime earnings, and wealth accumulation for individuals, as well as higher tax revenues and lower social program costs for the state. College…

In March of 2020, the global pandemic changed nearly every aspect of daily life around the world. Colleges and universities were forced to close their physical facilities and deliver both instruction and support services online, and higher education enrollment across the country declined. In the California State University (CSU) system, following…

Direct Admissions policies, first pioneered by Idaho in 2015, aim to simplify the path to college for high school students by proactively admitting students to state colleges and universities. Idaho's decision to implement Direct Admissions was motivated by a desire to boost its relatively low college-going rates and ensure that more of its high…

In 2011, Sweden introduced tuition fees for students from countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland when they enrolled at higher education institutions (HEIs). As a direct consequence, the number of students in Sweden from those countries decreased by 80% that year. Since then, the number of students has increased again…

The Higher Education Emergency Relief (HEER) Fund had two main purposes: (1) to ensure that colleges could continue to provide education to students in the wake of the pandemic and (2) to provide emergency financial assistance through colleges directly to students. Four years after the onset of the pandemic, this ARCC Network brief uses college…

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted nearly every aspect of the social and economic lives of individuals, families, and communities. It also highlighted and deepened existing racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities. Education, too, was negatively impacted by the pandemic. Research has provided ample evidence about the challenges related to learning…

The COVID-19 pandemic decreased college enrollment and disrupted academic progress, particularly among disadvantaged students and institutions. Just before the start of the pandemic in spring 2020, 31,511 undergraduate students attending colleges of The City University of New York responded to a survey detailing their circumstances. Lasso…

Postsecondary education enrollment is declining across the United States. The U.S. Department of Education's Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) initiative focuses on increasing the college-going rate of students living in low-income neighborhoods through targeted university-community partnerships (UCPs).…

The decline in undergraduate enrollment at American colleges and universities, particularly highlighted by a drop of nearly 500,000 students in Fall 2021, continues to reflect broader challenges facing higher education. Factors contributing to this trend include the enduring effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic instability, shifting…