Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
U.S. community college enrollment plummets
Surge also reported in students needing food
Peniella Irakoze is cold calling a list of 1,001 fellow students who didn’t return to Phoenix College this semester, checking on how they’re managing during the pandemic.
The calls have become a regular part of her job at a community college that, like others across the U.S., has experienced significant enrollment declines as students face challenges with finances, family life and virtual learning.
“I didn’t know that so many people were struggling,” said Irakoze, 20, who studies medical laboratory science and works part time for the college. “So many students aren’t coming back.”
Nationwide, enrollment at community colleges — which offer twoyear degrees and vocational training and often attract older students looking to learn new skills — dropped 10 percent from fall 2019 to fall 2020, according to the National Student Clearinghouse.
They were hit the hardest amid all colleges, and four-year universities experienced only slight declines, beating many predictions that the outcome would be worse.
While it was no surprise that fewer freshmen enrolled at four-year and community colleges, delaying studies until campuses fully reopen, the pandemic took a much heavier toll on older adult students who frequently choose the community college route. Many lost jobs or have
no time for their own schooling as they supervise their children’s online classes.
“The majority of them are working, many of them in industries that have been decimated by the pandemic,” said Martha Parham, a senior vice president for the American Association of Community Colleges. “Trying to navigate that and take classes is a very daunting challenge at this time.”
Depression and anxiety also disrupted the academic careers of community college students, including Stephanie Cruz Vazquez.
She said her severe anxiety was
amplified so much by her virus concerns that she decided last year to take a year off from fashion design classes at Mesa Community College near Phoenix.
“The pandemic really pushed me over the edge,” said Cruz Vazquez, 20.
More Americans typically turn to community college education amid economic downturns, seeking to learn new job skills or change careers. But the depth of the pandemic’s downturn, which kept many people homebound, seems to have upended usual trends, education experts said.
That troubles advocates and policy makers who cite community colleges as important options for low-income Americans. At a Senate hearing this month, Miguel Cardona, President Joe Biden’s pick for education secretary, called for federal financial support to help hurting community colleges, calling them “this nation’s best-kept secret.”
Across the U.S., community colleges have reported surging demand from students who need help getting food, prompting them to expand food pantries and grocery programs — in some cases tripling the amount of food distributed in past years. At MassBay Community College near Boston, meal assistance scholarship applications have increased 80 percent since last year.
Advocates hope the enrollment downturn is temporary and some predict many students will return to classes when campuses reopen and jobs return. But at least some are expected to forgo higher education, which experts say could translate to a lifetime of lower earnings and financial challenges.
“We are worried about losing some of them permanently,” said MassBay President David Podell.
The shift also illustrates how the pandemic has widened educational racial inequalities.
According to the National Student Clearinghouse, the community college enrollment decrease was most pronounced among Black students and Native Americans, groups that both experienced 13 percent declines over the last year. White and Hispanic community college enrollment fell 10 percent and Asian enrollment dropped 5 percent.