Thursday, July 24, 2014

For Community Colleges, Post-Recession Blues - Charlie Tyson, Inside Higher Ed

Community college enrollments swelled after the 2008 financial crisis. In the 2010-11 academic year, national enrollment numbers were almost 25 percent higher than in the 2007-8 academic year, said David Baime, senior vice president for government relations and research for the American Association of Community Colleges. The surge was brief. Enrollment at two-year public institutions fell 3.6 percent between spring 2012 and spring 2013. The numbers dropped 2.7 percent between spring 2013 and spring 2014. Community colleges are losing students older than 24 at disproportionate rates. These students still make up roughly 40 percent of community college attendees. But between 2013 and 2014, the over-24 age group saw a 5.9 percent decline in community college enrollment. In that same period, enrollments fell just 0.5 percent among community college students 24 years and younger. More students currently attend two-year colleges than did before the recession. But languishing enrollment numbers in the last three years have forced many community colleges to downsize. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/07/17/enrollment-low-stakes-are-high-community-college-learns