The seal of the Alabama Community College System on display at ACCS’ administrative building in Montgomery, Alabama on February 8, 2023. Community college enrollment in Alabama rose 7% since January 2024, with 21 of 24 colleges seeing growth. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)
Community college enrollment is on the upward trend in Alabama.
Neil Scott, vice chancellor of student success for the Alabama Community College System, said Wednesday that the number of enrolled students in the state’s two-year colleges had grown 7% over January 2024, with 21 of its 24 colleges showing an increase in headcount.
Scott warned that numbers probably shifted slightly due to enrollment changes that generally happen in early January and said more precise numbers will be presented in February.
“One of the dangers of putting together a PowerPoint presentation for enrollment updates right at the beginning of a semester is that the numbers change drastically every single day. So as you can imagine, these slides are already a little bit out of date, even though they’re only a day old,” Scott said.
ACCS also reported a nearly 8% increase in applications over the last year, with over 2,000 more applications than a year before, and 18 colleges currently showing an increase.
Scott said that early data suggests an increase in first-time freshmen, transient students, dual enrollment students, and students who may have at some point chosen to be readmitted and are looking to return to a community college.
The community college system also reported enrollment in the ACCS schools increased 6.2% year-to-year in August for the 2023-2024 academic year. The year also marked the highest headcount across colleges since 2013-2014.
Across the country, public two-year college enrollment grew 4.7% between 2023-2024.
ACCS trustees will consider their 2025 legislative agenda at their February meeting. Items could include a 5% increase in operations and maintenance funding for community colleges; pay raises for both faculty and staff; increased funding for prison education and increased funding to expand certifications and credentials, dual enrollment scholarships and the Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) programs.
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Updated at 3:07 p.m. to correct editing error. Scott made the presentation on Wednesday. An earlier version said the presentation took place on Tuesday.