Harris County community colleges report enrollment drops during pandemic, reflecting ‘historic’ U.S. trend

Thousands of students left Houston-area community colleges over the course of the pandemic — a worrying trend for the schools after years of stable or increasing enrollment. The largest two-year colleges in Harris County logged declining student headcounts between 2019 and 2021, with Houston Community College experiencing the most severe decreases, according to admissions offices. The problem lacks a singular explanation, administrators said, but it is fairly consistent with a nationwide trend of enrollment declines at community colleges more than at other subsets of higher education institutions. “For community colleges, this is historic,” said Shantay Grays, HCC’s vice chancellor of student services. “We have always relied on the economy bringing individuals back into higher ed. This is so nuanced that it’s perplexing researchers who have done years of studies in this work.”

The trend is at first counterintuitive: Administrators at HCC, Lone Star College and San Jacinto College said they usually see higher enrollment during economic downturns, in part because their tuition is comparatively more affordable than that at four-year institutions and because people are eager to learn new skills for re-entering the workforce. But the enrollment drops over the past two years came as a surprise — and the economy is still a likely cause, they said. “Students are kind of pausing their education,” Lone Star College Chancellor Stephen C. Head said. “The reason for that is there’s almost full employment in the Houston metropolitan area. I’m not talking about minimum wage, I’m talking 15 and 18 and 20 dollars an hour.” Even though people for the most part are able to find jobs now, a lack of enrollment could pose problems for them and for businesses later, said Brenda Hellyer, chancellor of San Jacinto College. Community colleges are usually major pathways to technical jobs in the community.