By Bill DeBaun, Director of Data and Evaluation, and Elizabeth Morgan, Director of External Relations
The higher education enrollment hits keep on coming, but not in a good way. In a new report, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center (NSCRC) shares the bad news:
spring 2020 saw college enrollment decline by 603,000 students, the steepest drop in a decade. Undergraduates comprised the entirety of declines, and traditional college-aged students (18- to 24-year-olds) and community colleges were hit particularly
hard.
Facing an uphill battle, communities across the country are trying new approaches to help students get, and stay, on track.
Undergraduate enrollment dropped by 727,000 students this spring, a decline of 4.9%. Community colleges saw a decline of 476,000 students or about 9.5%; the NSCRC notes that more than 65% of the total undergraduate enrollment losses this spring occurred
in the community college sector. Traditional college-age students saw declines of more than 5%, amounting to more than half a million fewer students.
Just seven states – New Hampshire, Utah, West Virginia, Nebraska, Virginia, Idaho, and Maryland – saw enrollment increases from last spring. Meanwhile, New Mexico, Delaware, Michigan, Kansas, and Wyoming saw the steepest declines by percentage.
The report is the latest in a string of depressing releases from the NSCRC. The High School Benchmarks report published in March showed a 6.8% decline in fall college enrollment, which
was 4.5 times larger than the pre-pandemic decline for the class of 2019.
What are communities doing this summer to try to reverse the declines, especially for recent high school graduates? Here are a few things NCAN is seeing among our members, especially from recipients of our recent grants to address the pandemic’s severe effects on students.
Providing new summer postsecondary advising support resources to high school graduates from 2021 and 2020, either through extended school counselor contracts, additional college access advisers from nonprofit organizations, trained near-peer advisers,
or advisers from local higher education institutions. Pre-pandemic, most postsecondary advising support ended with the school year. Communities are using a combination of virtual and in-person advising opportunities, sometimes in creative locations
such as local festivals, movie theaters, or drive-ins that are available during evenings and weekends.
Administering a senior student exit survey to collect summer contact information and ascertain where each student is in the postsecondary matriculation process.
Cross-referencing a list of 2020 high school graduates with National Student Clearinghouse postsecondary enrollment data to identify grads who have not yet entered college.
Conducting phone campaigns to reach class of 2021 students who did not complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or who indicated via exit survey that they had not yet completed enrollment steps for the fall. Some communities have
found students to be more accessible by phone than by email. Others have made home visits when neither phone nor email worked.
Paying for students’ college application fees or offering scholarships and emergency aid as an incentive to seek postsecondary advising and enroll.
Running a summer seminar for recent high school grads to prepare for a postsecondary transition.
Partnering with local colleges to waive application fees, enrollment deposits, and placement tests, hold onsite application days, or assist students selected for FAFSA verification.
Creating a fund to pay bursar’s fees owed by current college students so they can clear those fees and re-enroll.
Conducting large-scale summer melt texting programs to assist students through all postsecondary enrollment steps.
Offering transfer workshops for the increased number of students who have stopped out of higher education and wish to transfer to a new institution.
For a few deeper dives into particular communities, see these descriptions from Tampa, Florida,
and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. You might also want
to check out the Navigator Center launched by Baltimore City Public Schools or the new DC Persists program. We’ll keep looking
for more examples to share as the summer proceeds.
In sum, we are awed by the energy, commitment, and creativity of our field in responding to the postsecondary enrollment crisis. We know that without support, far too many students will never get back into the postsecondary pipeline with lifetime consequences
for themselves, their families, and our country. The pandemic has demanded sharper strategies, greater collaboration, and more resources while at the same time making even more clear how our higher education system is failing students of color and
students from low-income backgrounds.
NCAN will continue to partner with our members to advocate for policies that make higher education affordable and accessible for all.
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