15 Things Community Colleges Are Talking About This Community College Month
What the field, leaders, and experts are sharing to celebrate National Community College Month.
Blog Post
April 26, 2022
April is National Community College Month (#CCMonth) which presents a vital opportunity for recognizing why community colleges matter and the pivotal role they play in every community. Over the past year, community colleges have experienced historic enrollment declines, a switch to online learning, natural disasters, and a slew of other impacts that tested the resilience and strength of community colleges across the nation.
This past year has given us a lot to talk about, uplift, and advocate for, this community college month. Here are 15 things that community colleges are talking about this #CCMonth:
#1: Funding Workforce Programs
High-quality non-degree workforce programs at community colleges, including both credit-bearing and non-credit programs, play a crucial role in equipping low-income and marginalized workers and learners with the skills and credentials they need to secure quality jobs and careers in a variety of occupations. Financing these programs can be a challenge for many colleges. To understand how colleges fund these programs, New America and NFF interviewed college leaders, as well as experts in the fields of workforce development and community college administration, to identify creative ways to fund these essential programs.
#2: Community College Enrollment Changes
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, enrollment at colleges and universities fell nationwide, including for community colleges. Our Community College experts Iris Palmer and Ivy Love interviewed leaders at 20 colleges and held a small convening of 15 leaders and found that demographic and programmatic enrollment challenges varied by institution. And there were challenges across the board in community college’s ability to provide access to food, shelter, and technology.
#3: Online Learning and Simulation
Although COVID-19 has presented a wave of challenges for students, faculty, and staff, responding to their communities during times of crisis is not an unfamiliar task to community colleges. Iris Palmer and Ivy Love share some lessons from a federal investment during the Great Recession and show how colleges can share the burden and collaborate to improve online learning and simulation.
#4: Innovative Workforce Programs
High-quality, affordable, and equitable non-degree workforce programs at community colleges can lead directly to quality jobs and careers and are key to pandemic recovery. New America’s New Models for Career Preparation Project is working to better understand the design, financing, and strategy principles that go into creating these programs across the country.
#5: Equitable Recovery
Broward College is partnering to provide free education and wraparound support to the most vulnerable members of their community. They believe that this equity-focused model can be adapted at other community colleges. Senior analyst Shalin Jyotishi highlights the work of Broward College in what it describes as an “expanded way of doing business” called “Broward UP” to expand access, attainment, and mobility among the most underserved in its community.
#6: Using Advising and Prior Learning Assessment for Student Success
Supporting, guiding, and granting students credit for what they know, especially during a pandemic or crisis, will ensure their continued success to and through community college. Through extensive research on the largest direct federal investment in history, our Center on Education & Labor team highlighted effective practices in coaching and advising and the implementation of Prior Learning Assessment.
#7: College Presidents and Leaders Speaking Out
The COVID-19 pandemic has permanently altered higher education institutions across the country. Whether public or private, four-year or two-year, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic were influential and required many institutions to “pivot” in order to stay afloat. New America’s team interviewed 24 college presidents and senior-level administrators. These conversations highlighted the serious challenges and difficult decisions that college leaders have faced.
#8: Is (Community) College Worth It?
Enrollment at all levels of higher education are currently declining, and it appears that the public may be questioning the value of a college education. On one hand, the difference in wages between college and high school graduates – often referred to as the college wage premium – has increased since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. But on the other hand, the amount college “pays off” depends on race, gender, and type of degree.
#9: Career and Technical Education (CTE)
Postsecondary career and technical education (CTE) is critical for providing youth and adults with the academic knowledge, technical skills, and credentials they need to succeed in the labor market. But many postsecondary CTE programs were severely disrupted during the pandemic, with the experiential and work-based learning components proving difficult to maintain due to public health concerns. Community colleges, which are the primary provider of postsecondary CTE, have seen their student populations drop by 13 percent since the outbreak began. For Black and Indigenous men, the decline has been particularly dramatic.
#10: Bachelor’s Degrees at Community Colleges (CCB)
Community College Baccalaureate programs are a big topic this National Community College Month. More and more states are allowing community colleges to offer bachelor's degree programs in response to local labor market needs and student demand across the country. Our team has been gathering and curating stories about the impact of these programs on individuals and communities. Here we've gathered some of our writing and analysis on the community college baccalaureate and its place in higher education.
#11: Open Educational Resources (OER)
Community college faculty and administrators can make use of open educational resources (OER) to provide lower cost, high-quality curriculum to students in online or in-person modalities. This essential, equitable option for student success can offer more benefits than just being free, but they are typically culturally-responsive, customizable, and unique to every campus.
#12: Health and Natural Disaster Crisis
On top of the COVID-19 pandemic, some community colleges also experienced natural disasters or were still recovering from previous ones. Senior policy analyst Chris Geary highlights the work of Fletcher Technical Community College, which showed immense resilience in the face of COVID-19 and in their recovery after Hurricane Ida. Fletcher is doing everything it can to help meet the growing economic and health needs of its students and their families, thanks to a thorough understanding of the community's needs.
#13: Apprenticeship During College
Apprenticeship is a proven education and paid employment model that combines structured on-the-job learning with related technical or classroom instruction to prepare individuals for specific occupations. Community colleges are uniquely positioned to help expand high-quality apprenticeship into industries like healthcare, information technology, business, and advanced manufacturing, where workers need educational credentials (degrees and certificates) to advance in their careers.
#14: Non-Credit and Non-Degree Options
Our deputy director for community colleges Iris Palmer highlights the differences between non-credit and non-degree pathways. A large portion of the programs offered by community colleges are non-degree programs. They include programs that are not offered for college credit, as well as programs that are for credit but do not lead to a degree. Meanwhile, non-credit programs are rarely eligible for federal or state financial aid, and they rarely receive state government subsidies based on enrollment.
#15: Bringing Adults Back
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, community college enrollment has dropped dramatically. According to Chris Geary, this decline jeopardizes educational equity, which is especially concerning for adult learners. Adult students, who are disproportionately people of color and people of low income, have seen enrollment declines at community colleges that have been greater than in any other sector of higher education. To address this pressing issue, New America's Center on Education & Labor has partnered with six community colleges to assist adult students who have dropped out of college since the outbreak of COVID-19.