Here’s a sobering fact about the community college part-time student population: 47% of part-time students believe they will graduate within 1-2 years, but only 8% of part-time students actually complete their degree within four years.
While we’ve made strides in improving college access for historically underrepresented student populations, the completion gap has actually worsened in some cases, or it remains virtually unchanged.
Today's students are already reframing the way we think about campus diversity—students who are single parents, are military-affiliated, have disclosed disabilities, or seek financial aid—but one commonality these students all share is the likelihood that they will have limited time on campus and added obstacles blocking them from completing their degree.
This resource is part of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice Initiatives in Higher Education Resource Center.
In fact, 83% of community college students will enroll part-time or stop out at least once before they graduate. This statistic, coupled with declining college enrollment, means that college leaders can no longer afford to focus solely on full-time students, as success of the part-time population is a critical element of sustainability in a climate of increased competition, reduced enrollment, and performance-based funding.
In our recently released whitepaper, we share the latest data from EAB’s community college research team to highlight key areas of opportunity to meet the equity imperative by focusing on technology-enabled support strategies to improve completion rates for part-time students. Download the white paper or explore takeaways below.
Existing Onboarding Processes Hinder Part-Time EnrollmentCommunity colleges lose more than half of their…