Colorado community colleges are likely to see another dip in enrollment, a trend that has been repeated at Front Range Community College which includes the Boulder County campus in Longmont.
Across the state, community college system enrollment is expected to drop 6.2%. That follows a nearly 10% dip in enrollment last year compared to the 2019-20 school year, according to a story in Chalkbeat. Nationally, other community colleges experienced similar declines last year and national experts are uncertain when enrollment numbers will rebound, Chalkbeat states.
The COVID-19 Delta variant seems to be a factor in keeping students from enrolling for in-person learning, Chalkbeat states.
“Right now, our enrollment numbers are down below where they were at this time last year, and that’s not good for us,” Joe Garcia, Colorado Community College System chancellor, told Chalkbeat. “Last year was bad already.”
Fall enrollment at Front Range Community College’s four campuses dropped over 3%from 19,285 in 2019 to 2020, said FRCC President Andy Dorsey. The fall 2021 enrollment period is not over yet, so that number is in flux, he said.
In an email, Dorsey said FRCC is making a few changes to ensure course offerings work better for students and their schedules.
In addition to the school’s traditional online courses, FRCC is offering several “real time remote” courses, where the students and teacher meet via video at specific times and days to interact in virtual classroom settings, Dorsey said.
FRCC is developing more online offerings to add to the school’s schedule — especially in areas such as biology, chemistry and Computer Information Systems, Dorsey said.
The school is also changing how it does math support for students, making it easier for them to get up to speed faster and do well in their college math courses, he said. For instance, the school is combining college-level math with a special support course for students who need them — instead of requiring them to do the math support first, before they ever get into college-level math classes, Dorsey said.
Students can also select new high-demand programs, such as an associate degree in engineering and the courses at the school’s new Center for Integrated Manufacturing, Dorsey said.
