Community college enrollment drops below 2M students, more than previously reported

Enrollment at California’s community colleges dipped below 2 million students for the first time in at least three decades, the result of a pandemic that has upended education across the country. The drop across the 116-college system, at nearly 15 percent, is higher than what was reported by the system earlier this year for the fall 2020 semester.

The system, beset by chronic data issues that have stymied its ability to accurately track enrollment during a critical period, on Wednesday said its enrollment for the 2020-21 school year was down 318,800 students, or 14.8 percent, from the prior year. That puts its student enrollment at 1,833,843, down from 2,152,643 students in 2019-20.