CCRC in the News

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.

Community college students who aspire to transfer to four-year colleges often struggle to bring their credits with them, and the displacement caused by COVID-19 threatens to exacerbate the issue. In this Diverse: Issues in Higher Education story, CCRC Senior Research Scholar Davis Jenkins describes the challenges students face when two- and four-year institutions aren't on the same page and highlights collaborative efforts that buck the trend.

CCRC Research Associate Andrea Lopez spoke to Uptown Radio for this story about the specific challenges first-generation college students face as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Here, Community College Daily describes CCRC's latest blog posts on the center's new definition for "community college" and the potential effects of COVID-19 on student enrollment. 

The transition away from in-class instruction poses particular challenges for developmental education students and instructors who may lack reliable internet access and have to juggle jobs as essential workers with their courses. This Chronicle of Higher Education story, which draws on CCRC research for context, details those hurdles and explains how some are finding ways to overcome them.

In this CNBC story about how Covid-19 may affect community college enrollment, CCRC Director Thomas Brock explains the types of classes students who intend to transfer to a four-year college can take while they're at a two-year institution.