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Stalling enrollment rates at PCC are showing signs of a slight increase in Spring 2023 as more students make their way back to campus following the impacts of COVID-19 and successive declines in enrollment.

In a Board of Trustees meeting on Jan 18, admissions data was presented by the Dean for Enrollment Services Dr. Myriam Altounji, and the Assistant Superintendent-Vice President of Instruction Dr. Laura Ramirez, which showed a jump in student count from last Spring, and Fall 2022. Although the Spring 2023 semester continues to show a rise in admissions, enrollment headcount is still not reaching the same numbers it was prior to the pandemic. 

“Fall 2018 was two years before the pandemic and at that time it was kind of the high for the college,” Ramirez said. “But even then, going from Fall 2018 all the way to Fall 2020, the Chancellor’s office was already predicting an enrollment decline. This Spring in ’23 we saw an increase in headcount so it’s promising, it looks good, we’re starting to see students come back to campus.” 

Despite current enrollment rates not yet resembling the 30,995 headcount from Fall 2018, there are roughly 2,000 more students in Spring 2023 than Spring 2022, reflecting the jump from 19,017 to a total of 21,920. 

“Spring semester is underway and our enrollment this Spring is up from last year so that’s good. Trending in the positive direction,” Superintendent-President Erika Endrijonas said. “We also had a ten percent increase in black student enrollment over last Spring’s figures so that’s also great.” 

The rise in numbers will not change the fiscal impact for PCC as the college remains operating under the state of California’s “hold-harmless” funding provision, which froze public colleges’ funding levels to what they were before the pandemic. Any influx or decline in student enrollment will not affect funding for the college at this time, but could in the coming years.

“The Governor realized that tying colleges’ funding to enrollment was not going to be effective, so they froze the funding formula at our 2019 levels,” PCC Spokesperson Alex Boekelheide said. “We have entered a different phase of the COVID-19 pandemic…the conversation in Sacramento has turned to ways to remove the hold-harmless provisions.”

While the economic forecast continues to repair itself from the pandemic, hold-harmless is expected to discontinue its purpose for California’s community colleges in the next few years.

“The Governor’s Proposed Budget, released earlier this month, would remove hold-harmless in the 2024-25 academic year,” Boekelheide said. “There is currently much debate throughout the Legislature about the proper mechanisms to remove this support while easing the transition.”

Removing the “hold-harmless” funding could possibly raise issues within future fiscal  considerations for PCC as enrollment numbers would be used to determine school financing amounts despite any fluctuations or changes from initial enrollment data. A “snapshot” of the data would be used to determine funds where enrollment numbers  might change overtime. 

While the college aims to reach enrollment numbers back to those before the pandemic, PCC is utilizing more ways to effectively recruit new students to campus. Through academic outreach and student engagement, strategies like high school dual enrollment, marketing and social media, FYE (First Year Experience), and accessible virtual support are all approaches to further reach potential students. 

“We’re engaging with our strategic communications and marketing team,” said Altounji. “Bus wraps, social media and postcards, and our web page is consistently being updated in addition to email campaigns as well as texting. As we continue to see a student need, we are trying to branch out our services.”

Higher enrollment numbers are being supported by the spike from this Spring semester and PCC continues using outreach tactics to bring back levels seen prior to the onset of the pandemic. 

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