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Some states, including Florida, started allowing community colleges to confer their own bachelor's degrees. (Floyd, 2005)

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Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count 2003

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Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count 2003

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"In 2003, the Lumina Foundation for Education launched a major initiative, “Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count,” to increase student success at community colleges"

Quoted from: State Policies to Achieve the Dream in Five States: An Audit of State Policies to Aid Student Access to and Success in Community Colleges in the First Five Achieving the Dream States - By Kevin Dougherty, Monica Reid Kerrigan & H. Kenny Nienhusser

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State Policies to Achieve the Dream in Five States: An Audit of State Policies to Aid Student Access to and Success in Community Colleges in the First Five Achieving the Dream States - 2006

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State Policies to Achieve the Dream in Five States: An Audit of State Policies to Aid Student Access to and Success in Community Colleges in the First Five Achieving the Dream States - 2006

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"To help guide that policy effort, the Lumina Foundation commissioned an audit of state policy affecting access to, and success in, community colleges. An in-depth analysis was to be conducted of the initial five Achieving the Dream states (New Mexico, Texas, Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia), to be supplemented later by a survey of all 50 states. This report summarizes that initial in-depth analysis of the first five Achieving the Dream states."

From State Policies to Achieve the Dream in Five States: An Audit of State Policies to Aid Student Access to and Success in Community Colleges in the First Five Achieving the Dream States - By Kevin Dougherty, Monica Reid Kerrigan & H. Kenny Nienhusser

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Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008

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Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008

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"(Sec. 492) Directs the Secretary to provide technical assistance to states and public IHEs to develop, enhance, and implement, comprehensive articulation agreements among such IHEs in a state, and (to the extent practicable) across state lines, by 2010."

H.R.4137 - 110th Congress (2007-2008): Higher Education Opportunity Act. (2008, August 14). https://www.congress.gov/bill/110th-congress/house-bill/4137

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The Obama administration proposed to invest $12 billion over 10 years to community colleges with the goal of strengthening Pell Grants, providing new facilities, improving graduation rates, and capping debt payments to 10% of income among community college graduates. Ultimately, full funding was not approved by Congress, but the awareness from this proposal started more talks around community college support.

https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/president-obama-signs-historic-health-care-and-education-legislation

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Office of the Press Secretary
Legislation will end government subsidies to banks for guaranteed federal student loans and free nearly $68 billion for college affordability and deficit reduction
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, President Obama signed the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, which delivered a significant down payment on the President's ambitious agenda to make higher education more affordable and help more Americans earn a college degree.

This legislation strengthens the Pell Grant program, invests in community colleges, extends support for Historically Black Colleges and other Minority Serving Institutions, and helps student borrowers manage their student loan debt by capping repayments at 10% of their discretionary income. These efforts will be fully paid for by ending the government subsidies currently given to banks and other financial institutions that make guaranteed federal student loans and free up nearly $68 billion for college affordability and deficit reduction over the next 11 years.

"For a long time, our student loan system has worked for banks and financial institutions," President Obama said. "Today, we're finally making our student loan system work for students and all of our families."

"This legislation is a win for students and parents struggling to make ends meet to fulfill the dream of a college education," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said. "By ending subsidies to banks, we can make important investments that increase affordability and access to our nation's universities and community colleges."

This historic law:

Invests more than $40 billion in Pell Grants to ensure that all eligible students receive an award and that these awards are increased in future years to help keep pace with the rising cost of college. These investments, coupled with the funding provided in the Recovery Act and the President's first two budgets, will more than double the total amount of funding available for Pell Grants since President Obama took office.

Ensures that Americans can afford their student loan payments by expanding the existing income-based student loan repayment program. New borrowers who assume loans after July 1, 2014, will be able to cap their student loan repayments at 10 percent of their discretionary income and, if they keep up with their payments over time, will have the balance forgiven after 20 years.

Includes $2 billion over four years for community colleges to develop, improve, and provide education and career training programs. President Obama also asked Dr. Jill Biden to host a White House Summit on Community Colleges this fall to provide an opportunity for community college leaders, students, education experts, business leaders, and others to share innovative ways to educate our way to a better economy. Click HERE for a link to a video from the Second Lady, Dr. Jill Biden.

Starting July 1, all new federal student loans will be direct loans, delivered and collected by private companies under performance-based contracts with the Department of Education. According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, ending these wasteful subsidies will free up nearly $68 billion for college affordability and deficit reduction over the next 11 years.

Click HERE for more information and fact sheets on this historic legislation.

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President Obama Signs Historic Health Care and Education Legislation

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Legislation will end government subsidies to banks for guaranteed federal student loans and free nearly $68 billion for college affordability and deficit reduction

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H.R.4872 - Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010

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H.R.4872 - Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010

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"(Sec. 2101) Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to authorize and appropriate such sums as may be necessary to fully fund maximum Pell Grant amounts, beginning in FY2010. Authorizes and appropriates an additional amount for FY2011."

H.R.4872 - 111th Congress (2009-2010): Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. (2010, March 30). https://www.congress.gov/bill/111th-congress/house-bill/4872

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Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act of 2014

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Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act of 2014

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This replaced the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. For community colleges, this encouraged partnerships between colleges and the local workforce, funded training programs depending on market needs, and supported the idea of stacking credentials within a career field.

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WIOA is landmark legislation that is designed to strengthen and improve our nation's public workforce system and help get Americans, including youth and those with significant barriers to employment, into high-quality jobs and careers and help employers hire and retain skilled workers.

All Things WIOA

We are striving to keep our WIOA website updated with the important information you need to best implement the new law. Provide us with your feedback to help ensure this website remains the go-to for all things WIOA! Contact Us

Technical Assistance & Stakeholder Engagement.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), in coordination with federal partners the U.S. Departments of Education (ED) and Health and Human Services (HHS), collaborated to provide information and resources for States, local areas, non-profits and other grantees, and other stakeholders to assist with WIOA enactment.

Two primary sites provide both the "What" and the "How" of WIOA.

What: Policy

DOL.gov/agencies/eta/wioa is your source for all things related to what is required under the law. You are here now - check out the links in the menu bar above to explore more on specific instructions and guidance related to WIOA enactment.

The needs of businesses and workers drive workforce solutions and local boards are accountable to communities in which they are located

One-Stop Centers (or American Job Centers) provide excellent customer service to job seekers and employers and focus on continuous improvement The workforce system supports

The workforce system supports strong regional economies and plays an active role in community and workforce development

How: Technical Assistance

Workforce GPS is an interactive online communication and learning technical assistance (TA) platform that was designed to communicate with and build the capacity of the public workforce investment system to develop and implement innovative approaches to workforce and economic development in the 21st Century economy.

This website offers TA resources, peer-to-peer connection, and supplements other guidance provided by ETA's national and regional staff to help the public workforce system, education professionals, and business ensure successful WIOA outcomes.
Of special interest to WIOA Implementation efforts:
The Innovation and Opportunity Network (ION) on WorkforceGPS is your online learning and teaching community. ION is designed to support state and local workforce development boards, system professionals, and employers, helping you find the resources you need to successfully implement the vision of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). With links to the latest technical assistance and training tools, and numerous ways to engage with your peers across the country, ION helps you stay informed and connected as you navigate towards WIOA success.

Announcements
June 16, 2021 Access to Current State WIOA Strategic Plans
To access, read, and/or download the current State Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Strategic Plans (2020-2023), please click here.

Users may also search these plans with key words/phrases of interest ( e.g. apprenticeship, career pathways, eligible training providers, sector strategies, partnership, etc.)
December 18, 2019
Federal TA Webcasts: Requirements and Considerations for Unified and Combined Plans for 2020 - 2023
Read more about Requirements and Considerations for Unified and Combined Plans for 2020 - 2023 →
October 10, 2019
Planning Requirements for WIOA Unified and Combined State Plans (2020 - 2023)
Read more about Planning Requirements for WIOA Unified and Combined State Plans (2020 - 2023) →
May 9, 2019
ETA Publishes Final PY 2019 Allotments Guidance Letter
ETA has issued Training and Employment Guidance Letter 16-18: Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Adult, Dislocated Worker and Youth Activities Program Allotments for Program Year (PY) 2019; Final PY 2019 Allotments for the Wagner-Peyser Act Employment Service (ES) Program Allotments; and the Allotments of Workforce Information Grants to States for PY 2019.
Read more about ETA Publishes Final PY 2019 Allotments →

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Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act

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WIOA is landmark legislation that is designed to strengthen and improve our nation's public workforce system and help get Americans, including youth and those with significant barriers to employment, into high-quality jobs and careers and help employers hire and retain skilled workers.

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Many potential students did not pursue higher education from 2020-2021 due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. The students who did pursue higher education in the community college system at this time had a harder time accessing resources due to the abrupt switch to online education across the US.

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March 21, 2025

On October 23, 2024, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center (NSCRC) reported in itsRegular Updates on Higher Education Enrollment an overall increase in enrollment from Fall 2023 to Fall 2024. This report depicted these increases as a result of student retention rather than new enrollment from the freshman class. Specifically, this report outlined a decrease in freshmen enrollment in the 18-20-year-old age group from Fall 2023 to Fall 2024 for four-year public, nonprofit private, and for-profit private institutions. The data indicated that two-year and Primarily Associate-Degree Granting Baccalaureate (PAB) institutions saw an increase in freshmen enrolling as part-time students. It was based on these findings that ACCT published its initial analysis of enrollment trends among community colleges.

On January 13, 2025, the NSCRC made a public statement indicating that freshmen enrollment rates did increase across the various sectors and the miscalculations in their initial findings were a result of incorrectly mislabeling freshmen as dual-enrolled students.

With this latest information, the question is what is the latest reality for community colleges[1] in terms of enrollment?
Overall Findings
NSCRC's Current Term Enrollment Estimates: Fall 2024 published on January 23, 2025 incorporates a more thorough dataset than the earlier fall estimates report. According to this current report, all types of institutions saw an overall increase in undergraduate enrollment. As figure 1.4 demonstrates, community colleges did have a notable increase of nearly 6 percent, which is greater than that of public four-year and private nonprofit four-year institutions whose enrollment increase was 3.2 and 4.4 percent respectively.
Post-Pandemic Recovery
Even with increases in undergraduate enrollment since Fall 2022, community colleges have not fully rebounded to reflect 2019 Pre-Pandemic enrollment levels. However, it is worth noting that two-year institutions and PABs are seeing greater undergraduate growth than their counterparts even if they are currently just shy of being at Pre-Pandemic enrollment levels. Moreover, public two-year institutions and PABs started seeing post-pandemic enrollment increases in 2022, a year before four-year public and nonprofit privates experienced their own enrollment growth.

Furthermore, when we look deeper, part-time undergraduate enrollment in two-year institutions started increasing in Fall 2022, while the increasing enrollment trend for full-time enrollment at two-year institutions began in Fall 2023. Therefore, as figure 3.2 below indicates, two-year institutions began pandemic enrollment recovery sooner than their four-year public and nonprofit counterparts due mainly to their recovery in part-time enrollment.
Freshmen Enrollment
With freshmen in particular, the overall increase was 5.5 percent, yet community colleges saw a 7 percent increase, signaling stronger freshmen enrollment in these institutions compared to their public and private nonprofit four-year counterparts.

When looking deeper, Fall 2024 18-year-old freshmen enrollment increased by 3.4 percent across all institutions, while PAB and two-year institution enrollment of 18-year-old freshmen grew by 7.7 and 5 percent respectively. Community colleges stood out in their 18-year-old freshmen enrollment; yet the same cannot be said about public two-year institutions' enrollment of 19- to 20-year-olds. Although there was a 1.1 percent increase in this freshmen age group, public and private four-year institutions' enrollment increase was greater with 6.5 and 4.9 percent respectively. In terms of freshmen older than 25, we can see that enrollment did increase for community colleges in Fall 2024, yet not at the same magnitude as the 26 percent increase in private nonprofit four-year institutions. Regardless, as the 3.2 figures titled Freshman Enrollment at Public PAB Institutions for all Students by Age and Freshman Enrollment at Public 2-year Institutions for all Students by Age indicate, the percent increase in community college freshmen enrollment rates are higher for freshmen 21 and older than for 18-year-olds.
Who do Community Colleges Serve?
It is common knowledge that community colleges are open access institutions from which one can pursue an affordable higher education. NSCRC reports that for Fall 2024 community colleges serving the highest share of Pell Grant recipients saw the largest growth of 8.6 percent. A growth that is twice that of community colleges serving the lowest share of Pell Grant recipients. In other words, community colleges are serving more low-income students who are Pell grant recipients.

Meanwhile, while not the biggest population they serve, public four-year institutions serving the highest share of Pell grant recipients consistently have higher enrollment numbers than community colleges serving the same population. Furthermore, community colleges serving the share of Pell grant recipients that fall into the medium Pell serving category consistently have higher enrollment numbers than their public four-year counterparts. As figures 4.5 demonstrate, medium Pell serving community colleges serve more undergraduate students than medium Pell serving public four-year institutions.

Yet, when specifically looking at freshmen enrollment, high and medium Pell-serving community colleges consistently enroll more freshmen than high and medium Pell serving four-year public institutions. An explanation for high Pell-community colleges serving more freshmen than public four-year institutions but not serving more overall undergraduates in the same population most likely lies in the increasing transfer rates of students in two-year programs. Thus, Pell grant recipient community college freshmen become undergraduates of four-year institutions.
Undergraduate Certificate Programs
As NSCRC reports, undergraduate certificate program enrollment has increased each year for the last four years. Moreover, two-year institutions are leading with enrollment in undergraduate certificate programs. To put this into perspective, out of all institution types, two-year institutions enrolled 56 percent of the undergraduates seeking certificate programs while public four-year institutions hold 8 percent of this type of enrollment for Fall 2024, coming in second for enrolling the most in undergraduate certificate programs. This fact aligns with our understanding that certificate programing is not generally sought after in four-year institutions. Meanwhile, as figure 1.3 indicates, enrollment growth for these programs at two-year institutions has seen a steady increase, with Fall 2024 showing the highest increase since Fall 2021.

This finding is unsurprising as community colleges are known for offering affordable, flexible, diverse, and innovative programming that is responsive to the needs of their students. Furthermore, certificate programs lower the bar of entry to career pathways at an affordable cost, which explains their consistent growth since 2021, a likely response to economic uncertainly linked to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Main Takeaways
When it comes to community colleges, here are the main takeaways from NSCRC's report.

1. For Fall 2024, community colleges did have a notable enrollment increase of nearly 6 percent, gains that were not achieved by their public four-year and private nonprofit four-year counterparts.

2. Public two-year institutions and PABs started seeing enrollment increases in 2022, a year before four-year public and nonprofit privates experienced their own enrollment growth. A portion of this post-pandemic recovery can be attributed to part-time enrollment at community colleges, which saw an increase starting in Fall 2022, whereas full-time programs saw their increases start in Fall 2023.

3. Community colleges did signal stronger freshmen enrollment compared to public and private nonprofit four-year institutions, but this reality varies by age group. Community colleges did outperform in enrollment increases of 18-year-old freshmen; yet enrollment increases for freshmen 21 and older are higher than for 18-year-olds.

4. Medium Pell-serving community colleges serve more undergraduate students than medium Pell-serving public four-year institutions while high Pell-serving public four-year institutions serve more undergraduates than high Pell-serving community colleges.

5. Two-year institutions are the main enrollers of students seeking undergraduate certificate programs with a steady enrollment growth since Fall 2021.

Overall, the results of NSCRC's report sustains the conclusions that already exist about community colleges, which are that they serve a clientele who needs flexible and affordable programming as evidenced by their increasing enrollment in part-time and certificate programing; they are institutions which students in the United States rely upon during economic uncertainty, explaining how these institutions are the first to see enrollment increases after the COVID-19 pandemic; and they are an attractive option for 18-year old freshmen, whose Fall 2024 community college enrollment increase outpaced that of other institution types. Clearly consumer choice has indicated that community colleges are compatible and responsive to the needs of the public making them vital institutions in American society.

[1] For the purpose of this piece, community college is to be understood as a collective term which encompasses both two-year institutions and Primarily Associate-Degree Granting Baccalaureate (PAB) institutions. This term is congruent with the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center's use of community college.
Génesis Santiago is the Senior Government Relations Associate at ACCT
Photo Credit: Priscilla Du Preez, https://unsplash.com/@priscilladupreez

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What Do the Latest Enrollment Trends Tell Us About Community Colleges

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The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center published its Current Term Enrollment Estimates: Fall 2024 which show that community college enrollment increases outpaced that of other institution types, even if they have not yet rebounded to pre-pandemic enrollment levels.

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Community colleges see a rise in enrollment, outpacing 4 year institutions. (5.5% vs 7% increase)

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March 21, 2025

On October 23, 2024, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center (NSCRC) reported in itsRegular Updates on Higher Education Enrollment an overall increase in enrollment from Fall 2023 to Fall 2024. This report depicted these increases as a result of student retention rather than new enrollment from the freshman class. Specifically, this report outlined a decrease in freshmen enrollment in the 18-20-year-old age group from Fall 2023 to Fall 2024 for four-year public, nonprofit private, and for-profit private institutions. The data indicated that two-year and Primarily Associate-Degree Granting Baccalaureate (PAB) institutions saw an increase in freshmen enrolling as part-time students. It was based on these findings that ACCT published its initial analysis of enrollment trends among community colleges.

On January 13, 2025, the NSCRC made a public statement indicating that freshmen enrollment rates did increase across the various sectors and the miscalculations in their initial findings were a result of incorrectly mislabeling freshmen as dual-enrolled students.

With this latest information, the question is what is the latest reality for community colleges[1] in terms of enrollment?
Overall Findings
NSCRC's Current Term Enrollment Estimates: Fall 2024 published on January 23, 2025 incorporates a more thorough dataset than the earlier fall estimates report. According to this current report, all types of institutions saw an overall increase in undergraduate enrollment. As figure 1.4 demonstrates, community colleges did have a notable increase of nearly 6 percent, which is greater than that of public four-year and private nonprofit four-year institutions whose enrollment increase was 3.2 and 4.4 percent respectively.
Post-Pandemic Recovery
Even with increases in undergraduate enrollment since Fall 2022, community colleges have not fully rebounded to reflect 2019 Pre-Pandemic enrollment levels. However, it is worth noting that two-year institutions and PABs are seeing greater undergraduate growth than their counterparts even if they are currently just shy of being at Pre-Pandemic enrollment levels. Moreover, public two-year institutions and PABs started seeing post-pandemic enrollment increases in 2022, a year before four-year public and nonprofit privates experienced their own enrollment growth.

Furthermore, when we look deeper, part-time undergraduate enrollment in two-year institutions started increasing in Fall 2022, while the increasing enrollment trend for full-time enrollment at two-year institutions began in Fall 2023. Therefore, as figure 3.2 below indicates, two-year institutions began pandemic enrollment recovery sooner than their four-year public and nonprofit counterparts due mainly to their recovery in part-time enrollment.
Freshmen Enrollment
With freshmen in particular, the overall increase was 5.5 percent, yet community colleges saw a 7 percent increase, signaling stronger freshmen enrollment in these institutions compared to their public and private nonprofit four-year counterparts.

When looking deeper, Fall 2024 18-year-old freshmen enrollment increased by 3.4 percent across all institutions, while PAB and two-year institution enrollment of 18-year-old freshmen grew by 7.7 and 5 percent respectively. Community colleges stood out in their 18-year-old freshmen enrollment; yet the same cannot be said about public two-year institutions' enrollment of 19- to 20-year-olds. Although there was a 1.1 percent increase in this freshmen age group, public and private four-year institutions' enrollment increase was greater with 6.5 and 4.9 percent respectively. In terms of freshmen older than 25, we can see that enrollment did increase for community colleges in Fall 2024, yet not at the same magnitude as the 26 percent increase in private nonprofit four-year institutions. Regardless, as the 3.2 figures titled Freshman Enrollment at Public PAB Institutions for all Students by Age and Freshman Enrollment at Public 2-year Institutions for all Students by Age indicate, the percent increase in community college freshmen enrollment rates are higher for freshmen 21 and older than for 18-year-olds.
Who do Community Colleges Serve?
It is common knowledge that community colleges are open access institutions from which one can pursue an affordable higher education. NSCRC reports that for Fall 2024 community colleges serving the highest share of Pell Grant recipients saw the largest growth of 8.6 percent. A growth that is twice that of community colleges serving the lowest share of Pell Grant recipients. In other words, community colleges are serving more low-income students who are Pell grant recipients.

Meanwhile, while not the biggest population they serve, public four-year institutions serving the highest share of Pell grant recipients consistently have higher enrollment numbers than community colleges serving the same population. Furthermore, community colleges serving the share of Pell grant recipients that fall into the medium Pell serving category consistently have higher enrollment numbers than their public four-year counterparts. As figures 4.5 demonstrate, medium Pell serving community colleges serve more undergraduate students than medium Pell serving public four-year institutions.

Yet, when specifically looking at freshmen enrollment, high and medium Pell-serving community colleges consistently enroll more freshmen than high and medium Pell serving four-year public institutions. An explanation for high Pell-community colleges serving more freshmen than public four-year institutions but not serving more overall undergraduates in the same population most likely lies in the increasing transfer rates of students in two-year programs. Thus, Pell grant recipient community college freshmen become undergraduates of four-year institutions.
Undergraduate Certificate Programs
As NSCRC reports, undergraduate certificate program enrollment has increased each year for the last four years. Moreover, two-year institutions are leading with enrollment in undergraduate certificate programs. To put this into perspective, out of all institution types, two-year institutions enrolled 56 percent of the undergraduates seeking certificate programs while public four-year institutions hold 8 percent of this type of enrollment for Fall 2024, coming in second for enrolling the most in undergraduate certificate programs. This fact aligns with our understanding that certificate programing is not generally sought after in four-year institutions. Meanwhile, as figure 1.3 indicates, enrollment growth for these programs at two-year institutions has seen a steady increase, with Fall 2024 showing the highest increase since Fall 2021.

This finding is unsurprising as community colleges are known for offering affordable, flexible, diverse, and innovative programming that is responsive to the needs of their students. Furthermore, certificate programs lower the bar of entry to career pathways at an affordable cost, which explains their consistent growth since 2021, a likely response to economic uncertainly linked to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Main Takeaways
When it comes to community colleges, here are the main takeaways from NSCRC's report.

1. For Fall 2024, community colleges did have a notable enrollment increase of nearly 6 percent, gains that were not achieved by their public four-year and private nonprofit four-year counterparts.

2. Public two-year institutions and PABs started seeing enrollment increases in 2022, a year before four-year public and nonprofit privates experienced their own enrollment growth. A portion of this post-pandemic recovery can be attributed to part-time enrollment at community colleges, which saw an increase starting in Fall 2022, whereas full-time programs saw their increases start in Fall 2023.

3. Community colleges did signal stronger freshmen enrollment compared to public and private nonprofit four-year institutions, but this reality varies by age group. Community colleges did outperform in enrollment increases of 18-year-old freshmen; yet enrollment increases for freshmen 21 and older are higher than for 18-year-olds.

4. Medium Pell-serving community colleges serve more undergraduate students than medium Pell-serving public four-year institutions while high Pell-serving public four-year institutions serve more undergraduates than high Pell-serving community colleges.

5. Two-year institutions are the main enrollers of students seeking undergraduate certificate programs with a steady enrollment growth since Fall 2021.

Overall, the results of NSCRC's report sustains the conclusions that already exist about community colleges, which are that they serve a clientele who needs flexible and affordable programming as evidenced by their increasing enrollment in part-time and certificate programing; they are institutions which students in the United States rely upon during economic uncertainty, explaining how these institutions are the first to see enrollment increases after the COVID-19 pandemic; and they are an attractive option for 18-year old freshmen, whose Fall 2024 community college enrollment increase outpaced that of other institution types. Clearly consumer choice has indicated that community colleges are compatible and responsive to the needs of the public making them vital institutions in American society.

[1] For the purpose of this piece, community college is to be understood as a collective term which encompasses both two-year institutions and Primarily Associate-Degree Granting Baccalaureate (PAB) institutions. This term is congruent with the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center's use of community college.
Génesis Santiago is the Senior Government Relations Associate at ACCT
Photo Credit: Priscilla Du Preez, https://unsplash.com/@priscilladupreez

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What Do the Latest Enrollment Trends Tell Us About Community Colleges

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The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center published its Current Term Enrollment Estimates: Fall 2024 which show that community college enrollment increases outpaced that of other institution types, even if they have not yet rebounded to pre-pandemic enrollment levels.