Community college officials are thinking outside the box when it comes to boosting enrollment through unique efforts like targeted ZIP code recruiting, outreach to women and revamping online instruction.
North Texas community colleges saw drastic decreases in enrollment because of COVID-19. Dallas College saw a drop of 15% from the fall of 2019 to this semester. Tarrant County College’s decrease was nearly 20% while Collin College experienced a 4% decline.
Community colleges nationwide were the hardest hit by the pandemic, carrying the burden of more than 65% of the total undergraduate enrollment losses, according to the National Student Clearinghouse. Texas community colleges saw an enrollment drop of 9% last school year, according to the Texas Higher Education Board.
Students dropped out or opted to skip college because of safety concerns and budgetary restraints caused by the pandemic.
“Probably 80% to 90% of that decline is directly attributed to the pandemic environment that we’re in,” said David Ximenez, associate vice chancellor for enrollment and academic services at Tarrant County College. “Those types of things, that’s creating some issues for students to continue beyond high school and then college.”
So schools are exploring new ways to bring students back.
Dallas College, for example, is using geofencing, a program that shows the virtual perimeter of an area, in five Dallas ZIP codes that were showing large declines in enrollment from last year. Now, the same ZIP codes have advanced in a positive direction due to the school’s efforts, said Marisa Pierce, associate vice chancellor of enrollment management.
From sending emails and text messages checking in to hosting virtual and in-person events, it was all about letting students in those areas know support was available, she said.
Another community reengagement was spurred by data showing a decline in women reenrolling for the fall 2021 semester, Pierce said. An empathy campaign was created to not only encourage them to reenroll but also letting them know the level of support the college could offer.
Women in particular have struggled during the pandemic with job losses and much of the responsibility for remote schooling and caretaking falling on them, data shows.
About 40,000 texts were sent out as part of the campaign. About 5,600 women enrolled at Dallas College for an 18% response rate, Pierce said.
“We’re at a point in time, in light of what we’re going through globally, that we have to be more responsive as best as we can be,” she said.
Officials note that enrollment numbers for this fall aren’t final as the semester is ongoing, but they are already looking to adjust how they move forward.
Tarrant County College officials, for example, said they’ve learned they need to lean into virtual education more. Although enrollment overall was down at most TCC campuses, the completely virtual Connect Campus saw a 10% increase in enrollment in the summer 2020 from the previous summer, along with a nearly 3% bump that fall.
As the college returned to largely in-person offerings this fall, enrollment did not rebound.
“We don’t think we offered as many online courses as our students would have taken advantage of if we had just put them out there for them to register,” Ximenez said.
Ximenez said the college is collecting data from students on their in-person experience through surveys and conversation. The feedback will help officials make tweaks where needed, such as classroom setups or the registration process.
Meanwhile, school officials are rethinking how they help students one-on-one.
Dallas College created different “coaches” to specifically help students from the moment they register to the day they graduate, transfer to another institution or move on to the workforce.
A “college coach” is essentially a recruiter who assists students before they apply to the school. A “success coach” then takes over, replacing the traditional academic adviser role and helping students from financial aid applications to offering career advice, Pierce said.
“In this new student journey, we have these two coach roles that are essential,” she said. “One gets you in and the other one sees you through it.”
While the declines are grim for many schools, Pierce said administrators are not discouraged
“We’re encouraged by the fact that people, that our students are showing persistence,” she said.
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