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Community colleges drive rebound in higher ed enrollment

Aug 20, 2024
Training in high-tech and the skilled trades are attracting students' interest the most.
Veronica Tay, a laboratory technician at Middlesex Community College.
Carrie Jung/WBUR

Free community college programs increase enrollment — and strain staff

Apr 24, 2024
Free tuition programs in two New England states have brought thousands of new students into community college classrooms. But they're also straining some schools' faculty and financial aid staff.
Fernando Garcia-Rodriguez, assistant director of Mount Wachusett Community College Educational Opportunity Center, and Cassie Peltola, a community outreach counselor, look at a FAFSA online application form.
Robin Lubbock/WBUR

Texas' education funding revamp brings big changes

Jan 5, 2024
The new funding approach puts more money into the system and more emphasis on outcomes rather than enrollment totals.
Texas' new funding approach for community colleges puts more emphasis on outcomes rather than enrollment totals. Above, the campus of Richland College in Dallas.
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Why is it so hard for community college students to transfer credits to 4-year institutions?

Nov 10, 2023
The Department of Education says institutions need to talk to each other about how to make credits transfer.
"Sometimes you have a cultural reluctance to accept community college courses as being identical to what was taught at the university," says James Kvaal, undersecretary for the Department of Education. 
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Undergraduates flock to associate degree and certificate programs

Oct 26, 2023
They're cheaper and quicker than earning a bachelor's degree. When students complete their courses, jobs will likely be waiting for them.
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden toured a North Carolina community college in June. Many students are choosing to forgo the bachelor's degree path to a career.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

More states are requiring high schoolers to complete financial aid application

Feb 16, 2022
Applications for federal aid for college have decreased, so schools and states are looking at ways to get more grants into students' hands.
In states that require high school students to fill out the FAFSA, the number of students applying for financial aid has gone up.
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College enrollment overall has dipped, but it's down significantly at community colleges

Oct 16, 2020
That could be because many community college students need jobs to pay tuition.
College enrollment is down just 4% compared to last year, according to the National School Clearinghouse Research Center. But the drop-off is much steeper when it comes to first-year students and those at community colleges.
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Meet Derrick, 40, college dean

Feb 18, 2020
Derrick's work is characterized as "management, professional, like 40% of the U.S. workforce.
Caroline Yang

California community colleges try to boost graduation rates

Jun 1, 2017
The plan aims to help students finish faster by narrowing choices.
Alana Bachor, left, and Kelly Coreas create a semester-by-semester plan for a student studying respiratory therapy.
Amy Scott/Marketplace

Community college students face hunger and homelessness, new study finds

Mar 16, 2017
'Life issues' get in the way of student success, Miami Dade campus president says.
The study finds two in three community college students are “food insecure,” meaning they don’t have reliable access to enough food. 
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