2020 Community College Snapshot

Title: AACC Fast Facts 2020

Authors: American Association of Community Colleges

Source: American Association of Community Colleges

The American Association of Community Colleges recently released its Fast Facts 2020 snapshot. Based on their 1,050 institutional members, the brief snapshot provides statistics on a variety of indicators of degree production, enrollment by race and ethnicity, enrollment intensity (full time or part time), and the proportion of students enrolled for credit.

During the 2017-18 academic year, AACC member institutions awarded more than 852,000 associate degrees and nearly 580,000 certificates. The snapshot also highlights the role that community colleges play in bachelor degree production, noting that 186 of the 1,050 AACC members jointly awarded more than 19,000 bachelor’s degrees.

Among other data highlights:

• Nearly half (47 percent) of students enrolled in fall 2018 were in non-credit bearing courses.

• In fall 2018, community colleges enrolled 41 percent of all undergraduates nationally. By race and ethnicity, 57 percent of Native Americans and 52 percent of Hispanic students were enrolled in community colleges.

• The majority of full-time students attending community colleges were also employed (62 percent). Employment for part-time students was even more common at 72 percent.

• Annual tuition and fees for the 2019-20 year were significantly lower at community colleges ($3,730) than at four-year in-state public colleges ($10,440)

• Looking at the distribution of federal aid dollars by sector in 2017-18, community colleges received 33 percent of all Pell grants, 24 percent of all Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants, and 17 percent of all federal work-study aid.

To view the snapshot, please click here.

—Charles Sanchez