Careers: Teaching

The last year and a half have been difficult for all of us, but perhaps most difficult for young people who were already at a transition point in their lives. The decision to go to college is a major one even in a normal year, and one that should not be made lightly. Throwing a global pandemic into the mix complicated the situation for thousands of students, many of whom put their college plans on hold.

Now that the pandemic is slowly getting under control, experts and educators alike wonder whether we’ll see a return to normalcy in the world of academia. Thousands of students who chose to take a gap year may or may not return and, even if they did, the college experience may not be what it once was.

In this article, we’ll explore the subject of declining enrollment in the aftermath of the pandemic along with a worsening problem – the gender gap.

Community College Enrollment Pre-Pandemic

While the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic was discovered in 2019, its global impact wasn’t truly felt until 2020. To understand the impact of the pandemic on the nation’s education system, we need to first take a look at enrollment data prior to the pandemic.

According to data from the Provisional National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), roughly 8.2 million undergraduates were enrolled in two-year public colleges for the 2018-19 school year. In the fall of 2019, 5.5 million students were enrolled –

As of April 2021, the unemployment rate in the United States was 6.1%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. While numbers have significantly improved over the past year, there were still an estimated 9.8 million people unemployed – this is compared to a 3.5% unemployment rate with 5.7 million unemployed persons in February of 2020. Though the job market is slowly recovering, 2021 college graduates will need to be patient and flexible as they start their job search.

The COVID-10 pandemic caused millions to lose their jobs and many to start working from home. While some companies have started to transition back to in-office work, many processes are still being carried out virtually – including the hiring process. As a community college graduate, you may find your job search looks different than graduates who came before you.

Read on to learn some simple tips for finding a job and how to ace a remote job interview.

10 Simple Job Search Tips for Graduates

Even in a non-pandemic year, graduating from community college and looking for a job can be stressful. Your first job out of school may not be your dream job, but it’s a steppingstone in the path that leads to a successful career. Though things are certainly improving, the economy isn’t what it was a year and a half ago and the job market hasn’t fully recovered.

With millions of jobseekers out there, your job search may be a little longer and

The coronavirus pandemic has hit the country hard, but it has been particularly difficult for America’s working class. Low-wage jobs were eliminated by the millions and people without college degrees faced the highest rates of unemployment. Over a year into the pandemic, community colleges – the education system created to help America’s working class – continue to struggle.

According to data from the National Student Clearinghouse, enrollment has declined by nearly 10% at over 1,000 two-year colleges since last spring. Added to a similar drop in enrollment last fall, these numbers more than double the decline in enrollment seen at four-year colleges and universities. Enrollment has declined even more sharply among Black and Hispanic students.

These numbers hint at the many ways the COVID-19 pandemic has affected community colleges and highlight the challenges these schools face if they are to survive. Keep reading to learn more about the current state of community colleges in the U.S. and what the future may hold for them.

Which States Have Been Hit Hardest?

The COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t left a single corner of the world untouched but under the Trump administration the United States saw millions of deaths which left the country in shock. Around the country, students were forced to choose between abandoning their plans and enroll in college or accept an altered version involving remote education. Nearly half of all American households report that a prospective college student cancelled their plans to attend community college in

In certain circles, community colleges are looked down upon. Some believe a community college degree is less valuable than one earned at a traditional four-year college or university. Many believe, however, that community colleges are the “cornerstone of American higher education.” As the country works to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, they may be more important now than ever.

Community colleges enroll nearly half of all college students and provide educational opportunities some students would otherwise not be able to access. They play a role in workforce development, local economic development, and vocational training.

The coronavirus pandemic that has stretcherding to a 2015 study cod into the summer of 2020 has changed the face of the American education system at all levels. As we look ahead to the 2020-21 school year, thousands of students find themselves wondering what their postsecondary education is going to look like. In these times of change, community colleges are becoming more critical than ever before.

The Role of Community Colleges

The significance of community college is right there in the name – community. Steven Mintz of Inside Higher Ed suggests, “community colleges have a critical role to play in addressing the country’s greatest challenges: stagnant family incomes, disparities in income and wealth, and political polarization.” These institutions play a significant role in their communities and in the more outstanding educational system.

These are some of the most critical roles community colleges play:

• Workforce development
• Local and regional economic development
• Technical and vocational