In policy circles, the first question of the year often relates to college enrollment. Most common is the question: "Are you up or down in enrollment?" More often than not, the enrollment question may be answered in terms of full-time equivalent (FTE) enrollment. While the answer does have programmatic implications, the initial interest is more directly related to its implications on funding. This is because the majority of public college revenues originate in part from tuition and fee revenues which are, in most cases, charged on a per credit hour basis. It may, therefore, seem logical to quantify all sources of support on a per FTE basis. However, doing so may be damaging to community colleges in terms of funding and the support services needed for all students. For the purpose of this report, the focus is on the following: (1) One FTE does not equal one person, which can contribute to underfunding; (2) Community colleges are open access; they don't stabilize enrollment through selective admissions; and (3) Community colleges are affected by shifts in their community, which contributes to FTE enrollment fluctuations that may be used as a rationale to cut college budgets. Understanding these ways in which enrollment is discussed and perceived is important to ultimately reframe the way community colleges as a sector discuss the critical role community colleges play in providing access to the middle class for more than 12 million students each year.