The ARCC Network brings together research teams from across the United States to explore strategies community colleges can use to bring back students who left during the COVID-19 pandemic, support their learning, and ensure they can succeed in the rapidly evolving post-pandemic economy.
Focused Research States
In addition to national research on enrollment and transfer trends and pandemic recovery spending, the ARCC Network is conducting surveys of community colleges and studies of pandemic recovery strategies in eight states. The ARCC Network includes six research teams and three lead organizations. Learn more about the teams and read their publications.
ARCC Network Projects
Latest Publications
CCRC | September 2024
WestEd | September 2024
ARCC Network Fast Facts
Community college enrollments grew 4.7% in spring 2024, with strong growth among first-year students.
Compared with spring 2020, spring 2024 enrollment in community colleges was down 12.4%, more than 630,000 students.
In the California community colleges, Asian enrollment fell 11%, Black/African American enrollment fell 10%, Hispanic/Latinx enrollment fell 17%, and White enrollment fell 8% in the first 18 months of the pandemic.
Forty percent of public two-year college students enrolled exclusively in online courses in fall 2021, up from 15% in fall 2019. That fell to 32% in 2022.
In fall 2020, 28% of households with a community college student did not have a computer and 33% did not have internet.
In 2021-22, 11% of California community college students were enrolled in CalFresh food benefits. Many more were likely eligible.
Over $25 billion in Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds was awarded to community colleges to respond to COVID-19.
In Tennessee community colleges, fall-to-spring persistence rates for students who first enrolled in fall 2020 dipped 7 percentage points compared with a year earlier. The rate improved for the 2021 cohort.Â
