National Student Clearinghouse
The latest fall college enrollment figures released this month tell a startling story that alarms educators: The sharp declines at community colleges far larger than at four-year colleges are due mostly to disappearing male students.
At some community colleges, the losses are minor. At others, however, they are dramatic. At Southwest Tennessee Community College in Memphis, fully half of the Black male students enrolled in the spring of 2020 and still working toward graduation did not enroll this fall. That’s about 830 men who did not return to Southwest, which enrolls 10,227 students, 63 percent of whom are minority.
Where are they? Community college leaders at Southwest and other community colleges have several theories.