CCRC in the News

CCRC Senior Research Scholar Nikki Edgecombe spoke to the Chronicle of Higher Education for this story about the future and importance of student supports. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the challenges the most vulnerable students face and made it difficult to anticipate who will show up on campus for the next term, Edgecombe said.

CCRC Research Affiliate Yuxin Lin spoke to Inside Higher Ed about the challenges faced by students who decide not to enroll in college right after high school. Low-income students, in particular, rarely take voluntary gap years, and the time off increases the likelihood that they will never earn a postsecondary credential. 

This Houston Chronicle story quotes CCRC's blog post that uses Great Recession-era data to explore how the COVID-19 pandemic could affect enrollment. Houston Community College has seen its student body grow ahead of the summer term, according to this story. 

In this Inside Higher Ed op-ed, CCRC's Jim Jacobs and Maria Cormier explain that community colleges will need to respond to budget cuts, a pivot to online instruction, and evolving industry and skill needs to ensure their workforce development programs remain relevant in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In this Inside Higher Ed Q&A, CCRC Senior Research Scholar Davis Jenkins compares the potential effects of the COVID-19 pandemic with the fallout from the 2008 financial crisis on community college enrollment. He also speculates about the effect of potential budget cuts and the future of hands-on workforce development programs.

The COVID-19 pandemic may prompt an enrollment bump in community colleges, as four-year students opt to take less expensive classes closer to home. Many community colleges are hoping for this outcome, CCRC Senior Research Scholar Davis Jenkins told The Chronicle of Higher Education, and if they want to hold onto these students, they'll need to work deliberately to support them.

Although four-year colleges across the country have transitioned to pass/ fail grading systems to alleviate stress during the COVID-19 pandemic, many community colleges have hesitated to follow suit, fearing that the new policy will hurt students who seek to transfer and earn a bachelor's degree in the long run. In this Charlotte Observer story, CCRC Senior Research Scholar Davis Jenkins explains the uphill battle aspiring transfers face.

In this Fox News story about how the coronavirus may affect higher education, CCRC Director Thomas Brock explains that, historically, community college enrollment increases amid economic downturn. 

The economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic may wreak havoc on the City University of New York (CUNY) and force the system to lay off a substantial number of employees. In this article from The Nation, CCRC Director Thomas Brock explains why keeping institutions like CUNY strong is so important for underserved students.

As the COVID-19 pandemic disrupts their education plans, students are considering community colleges as an alternative to going away to school. In this story from NBC and The Hechinger Report, CCRC Senior Research Scholar Davis Jenkins explains what community colleges should do to retain those students and avoid a potential enrollment dip.