Reflecting nationwide trends of plunging enrollment in colleges, Pasadena City College reports enrollment has declined steadily over successive Spring semesters starting 2019.
Colleges across the United States face a daunting challenge: Even with the wide availability of COVID-19 vaccines and the easing of pandemic restrictions, student enrollment is declining.
Enrollment in community colleges across the nation is down 13 percent, from 5,368,470 in 2019 to 4,662,364 in 2021.
“Like community colleges across the state, the pandemic has caused shifts in enrollment that are still the subject of analysis,” said Alex Boekelhide, Director, Strategic Communications and Marketing at Pasadena City College.
According to Boekelhide, enrollment at PCC declined steadily over the successive spring semesters since 2019.
Based on the data provided by PCC, the college had 25,552 enrollees in spring of 2019.
A total of 25,423 students enrolled in 2020 while 23,087 enrolled in 2021. In 2022, only 18,215 students have enrolled.
Despite the decline in enrollment, Boekelhide said no employees were laid off.
Repeated requests to the PCC Faculty Association for comment on the enrollment drop, programs impacted by the drop and faculty employment over the past three years have not been answered.
The college’s revenues have remained steady since the pandemic started and Boekelhide attributed this to the actions taken by the legislature and the Governor’s Office to keep funding for California’s community colleges in a “hold harmless” position.
According to Boekelhide, PCC did not make any changes in terms of the programs being offered to students despite the decrease in enrollment.
Most PCC students have returned to campus for in-person classes in January, for the first time in nearly two years of the pandemic, despite appeals from some teachers and students to continue with remote learning.
While the school is open, faculty, staff and students enrolled are required to follow COVID-19 protocols, including weekly COVID-19 testing, submission of vaccine proof, and the wearing of masks.
Moving forward, Boekelhide said PCC will continue with its return to campus this summer, with classes operating at full capacity and even more courses being offered in person.
Registration for summer 2022 is now ongoing and classes will start on May 12, according to Boekelhide.
Get our daily Pasadena newspaper in your email box. Free.
Get all the latest Pasadena news, more than 10 fresh stories daily, 7 days a week at 7 a.m.
4 thoughts on “PCC Enrollment Plunges By 7,000 Students Since 2019, No Teacher Lay Offs Reported”
“Despite the decline in enrollment, Boekelhide said no employees were laid off.”
However, adjuncts have lost countless class assignments, and health insurance coverage, due to the college’s refusal to lower classes’ enrollment requirements.
No teachers have been fired because so few were ever hired. They treat adjuncts like dirt, churn through human lives, but give job security mostly to administration. Shame on this publication for not mentioning the cruel disparity in turnover rates between administration and faculty.
Its due to the pandemic ,. But also there is not much to choose from i work 40 hrs a week there are hardly any classes i can take also the pre requsites are preventing me from getting a class theycshould have more classes
So what is the school doing to increase enrollment? Do they offer scholarships, outreach to recruit low income students, etc.?
No, they do what any sensible government institution does. They spend 16.4 millions to purchase a new building in the ritzy area of Arcadia.
https://www.pcccourier.com/news/goodbye-rosemead-hello-arcadia-pcc-to-purchase-new-satellite-campus.html