Rethinking Community College Outreach and Recruitment Efforts: Insights From Black and Latinx/e Students

• In Event: Confronting Injustices in an Era of Adapted Racism to Construct College Choice and Transitions for Black and Latina/o/x Students

Abstract

Objectives

Community colleges are a primary access point to higher education for many students of color, especially Black and Latinx/e students. Several scholars have explored the factors leading to community college enrollment among Black (Lowry, 2017; Wood & Harrison, 2014) and Latinx/e students (Kurlaender, 2006; Núñez et al., 2011), which include college affordability, proximity to home, and programs offered. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, drastically impacted community college enrollment, particularly among Black and Latinx/e students (Bulman & Fairlie, 2022). These changing enrollment patterns portend short- and long-term equity implications for these communities. As such, this study aims to explore how Black and Latinx/e students gain college information and make decisions about community college enrollment in an effort to enhance outreach and recruitment efforts in this critical sector.

Theoretical Perspectives

Iloh’s (2018) Model of College-Going Decisions and Acevedo-Gil’s (2017) College-conocimiento framework guide this study. Iloh’s (2018) model proposes that three factors (information, time, and opportunity) describe the complexity of college-going decisions and trajectories in a students’ life. Acevedo-Gil’s (2017) model further illuminates how the college-choice process among Latinx/e students is often non-linear and shaped by students’ intersecting identities. Collectively, these frameworks provide a robust, contemporary understanding of how Black and Latinx/e students make college decisions.

Methods and Data Sources

Data for this qualitative study comes from a larger project examining college-going patterns among Black and Latinx/e students within a county in California. One community college serves most community college bound Black and Latinx/e students in this county. The college leadership has actively developed equity-minded practices and invested significant resources to better support the Black and Latinx/e students in the surrounding community, including enhancing outreach and recruitment, making this an ideal setting for this study. The paper draws on interviews with 25 Black and African American and 18 Latinx/e community college students residing in this county.

Findings and Significance

Common across Black and Latinx/e students’ community college pathways was a communal approach to information sharing and college-going. Among Black students, several reported continuing a legacy of attending the same community college as family members or building a legacy for the next generation. Some also shared taking classes with family to encourage and support each other. Similarly, several Latinx/e students described how they chose to enroll at a particular community college based on the information they received from friends and family members that helped them feel like they would succeed.

Yet, Black and Latinx/e students shared that the local community college was not as present within the community. For those who had more recently moved into this county as adults, they largely learned about the college through their own research online. These findings suggest that outreach efforts within community colleges must incorporate more intentional and culturally relevant outreach and recruitment practices. This will require rethinking these efforts as more proactive and communal, recognizing the various factors Iloh (2018) and Acevedo-Gil (2017) detail in understanding college choice among these historically underserved groups.

Author

• Marcela G. Cuellar, University of California - Davis