COVID-19 and Community Colleges: Can Timely Research Accelerate Their Recovery and Support Racially Minoritized Students?

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

This symposium session presents a comprehensive review of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on community colleges and their subsequent recovery efforts. Presenters will shed light on specific recovery efforts including the use of Higher Education Emergency Relief (HEER) Funds at community colleges, responses to sweeping declines in community college enrollment, and impacts on economic opportunities and transfer pathways that community college students rely on to more affordably obtain bachelor's degrees. Through an interactive panel discussion, participants will have the opportunity to engage in discussion about pandemic recovery efforts and needs, leaving with valuable insights into ways to address racial/ethnic disparities at community colleges and steps to guide policymakers and practitioners in crafting effective strategies for equitable student success.

Sub Unit

• Division J - Postsecondary Education / Division J - Section 5: Policy, Finance, and Economics

Chair

• Tolani Britton, University of California - Berkeley

Papers

• Supporting California Community Colleges in Pandemic Recovery: Insights From a Systemwide Survey - Olga Rodriguez, Public Policy Institute of California

• Pandemic Recovery Efforts in Practice: Community Colleges’ Use of Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds - Tia Jane Monahan, Teachers College, Columbia University; Hollie Daniels Sarica, Community College Research Center

• Changes in Sub-Baccalaureate CTE (Career and Technical Education) Student Outcomes and the Local Labor Market in a Post-Pandemic World - Jenna Terrell, WestEd

• Pandemic Impact on Community College Students and Their Pathways to a Baccalaureate - Hee Sun Kim, National Student Clearinghouse