Department of Education: Community College Enrollment Down

KHBT — The enrollment in the state’s 15 community colleges dropped slightly in 2018.

Heather Doe of the Iowa Department of Education says the drop of 1,501 students mirrors what happened nationwide.  Doe says it is due in part to a better economy and low unemployment in the state.

“That’s been a trend that’s really happened since we peaked back around 2012 –right when there was a great recession going on,” Doe says.

“Since we’ve been in recovery, we’ve seen those types of numbers both in Iowa and across the nation.”

Doe says one area that saw an increase last year is the program that let’s high school students take courses before they graduate.

”We reached a peak of just over 51,000 high school students taking advantage of joint enrollment opportunities this year,” according to Doe. “That’s up about 2.3 percent from last year.”

Nearby Iowa Central Community College currently has an enrollment of 5,697 per USNews.com.

To see the full report of Iowa Community Colleges you can follow this link.