This report provides a look at the Fall 2023 term enrollment in categories such as student load, location and demographics of the community college student population. The content and format of this report have been developed through a collaborative effort between the Wyoming Community College Commission (WCCC), the Executive Council, and the Data…

Historically, community college enrollment is impacted by the economy--the better the economy, the less students seek a community college education. The enrollment at Marion Technical College (MTC) in Florida generally has followed this trend. Prior to COVID-19, the economy in the United States was seeing unprecedented growth and, thus, MTC's…

When the COVID-19 pandemic began, the federal government responded by expanding the country's safety-net programs, including through stimulus payments. There were also significant federal policy changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the largest food assistance program in the United States. Benefit amounts were increased,…

Working through the COVID-19 pandemic, many community colleges were driven to continue operations in a time of extreme uncertainty, all while dealing with enrollment declines, helping those already marginalized through wrap around services, and transforming educational service delivery in an online environment. Throughout rapidly changing…

Ms. Braun, a new Special Education Director in the Baso Unified School District, is under pressure to curtail district expenditures on special education services. In her quest to understand why special education enrollment has increased, Ms. Braun learns about the challenges students face when accessing physical and mental health services at…

It has long been recognized that Black and Latinx students are underrepresented at America's top public universities and thus deprived of access to the institutions with the best graduation rates and career outcomes. Much less understood is whether these students at least have equitable access to their local community colleges, which are supposed…

Overall, compared to the Spring term one year ago, Illinois Community College System Spring 2023 opening headcount enrollments (+7.2 percent) and full-time equivalent (FTE) enrollments (+6.8 percent) had substantial growth. The opening enrollments reflect the end of the regular spring registration period which is usually the 10th day of class. The…

The Iowa Department of Education (Department) collects information on developmental education (dev. ed.) from Iowa's 15 community colleges on an annual basis. Dev. ed. courses are offered in mathematics, reading, writing, English as a Second Language (ESL), and in other subject areas, such as financial literacy and skill building. These credits do…

Between the 2002-3 and 2010-11 academic years, the number of high school students taking college courses for credit increased by 68 percent, to nearly 1.4 million. By 2015, nearly 70 percent of high schools offered dual enrollment, according to the Government Accountability Office. The explosion has been a boon for the nation's community colleges,…

In this monumental time of social change, community college news and reports need to be at the forefront of all professionals working in higher education- not just those who work in these unique institutions. Why? There are several reasons, each of which become more apparent while flipping through the pages of Inside Higher Ed's special report…

To improve community college success, we need to consider the lived realities of students. Our nation's community colleges are facing a completion crisis. The college-going experience of too many students is interrupted, lengthening their time to completing a degree--or worse, causing many to drop out altogether. In "The Costs of…

Community college enrollment has significantly declined since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Between the spring 2020 term and the spring 2022 term, community college enrollment declined by nearly 17 percent nationwide. This alarming trend has posed a threat to the well-being of community colleges and the students they serve, which includes…

This is the sixth issue in a series of American Association of Community Colleges analyses of trends in community college enrollments and examination of completion rates. Two sources are used, enrollment, graduation rates, and outcomes measures information from the U.S. Department of Education and enrollment and completion rates published by the…

Over a decade and a half, community college enrollment for part-time students who are younger than 18 has more than doubled, jumping from 287,000 in 2001, to more than 635,000 by 2015 -- an increase of 122 percent. By contrast, total enrollment in community colleges only increased by 14 percent over the same period. Of particular note, this…

Incarcerated individuals have lower educational attainment than the general population, but education plays an important part in their re-entry into society. Prison education has shown to increase the likelihood of employment upon release and reduced recidivism. With about 1.5 million incarcerated individuals in state and federal prisons, and…