How Community Colleges Can Bring Adults Back to Campus

Community college enrollment has significantly declined since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Between the spring 2020 term and the spring 2022 term, nationwide community college enrollment declined by nearly 17 percent. This alarming trend poses a threat to the well-being of community colleges and the students they serve, which includes more than half of all undergraduate students from low-income families.

Community colleges play an important role in serving adult learners. In 2019, more than 1.7 million students over the age of 25 were enrolled at public two-year colleges. A group of students disproportionately composed of people of color and people with low incomes, adult students have experienced enrollment declines that have been larger at community colleges than in any other sector of higher education.