Community College Drop-Off Survey

Survey
Feb. 2023
Sample Size: 1,641
Demographics: undergraduate students
Topics: Covid-19 Student Support Admissions And Enrollment

Top Findings:

  • Students are now more concerned about the economy than they are about COVID-19. When this survey was last conducted in 2020, we found that a majority of each enrollment group (65 percent of continuers, 60 percent of stop-outs, 65 percent of new students, and 66 percent of aspirants) were concerned about catching COVID-19. These concerns decreased over the past two years, particularly among stop-outs (47 percent) and aspirants (43 percent).
  • Across all groups, significant percentages are experiencing economic hardship. At the high end, nearly half (49 percent) of stop-outs report falling behind on a bill, with aspirants (47 percent) and continuers (42 percent) trailing behind.
  • Many respondents also received free food from a friend or family member (between 39 and 47 percent) and skipped meals (between 37 and 46 percent) because they did not have enough money to buy food, thus indicating that food insecurity also poses a great risk to these students.
  • For stop-outs, only 42 percent say it is likely they will enroll again in the future. And for those who plan to enroll again, 24 percent said they didn’t plan to enroll again until after 2023.
  • Only half (50 percent) of stop-outs report satisfaction with the quality of online instruction, compared with 77 percent of continuers and 71 percent of new students.