Community Colleges Face Steep Losses in Black Freshmen Enrollment
As enrollment drops, experts worry about the implications down the line as public two-year degrees often offer a path to better, higher paying jobs.
Public two-year colleges have seen a 14.8% slump in overall enrollment since the fall of 2019, with the number of Black freshmen falling the most of any other demographic, according to data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center released Thursday.
While the rate of decline is slowing compared to last year, it’s not recovered, according to Doug Shapiro, executive director of the research organization. The two-year schools have seen a 32.2% decline in the number of Black freshmen since the fall of 2019, the group’s data as of Oct. 21 show. Experts don’t expect a comeback to occur anytime soon, even as the labor market reflects a need for college-educated workers.