Certificate programs continue to lead enrollment growth

“Enrollment in certificate programs at community colleges continues to show big gains, increasing 12.1% this spring compared to last spring, according to a final spring enrollment tally from the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) Research Center. That’s a boost of 82,873 students for a total 767,662. The certificate program gains were higher than new enrollments in community college associate-degree programs, which saw an additional 60,274 students (a 1.5% increase) this spring compared to last year. Still, far more students enroll in associate-degree programs at nearly 4.2 million. Overall, community college enrollments continue to outpace the higher education sector, with a spring-to-spring increase of 3.1%, compared to 1.0% for all institutions, according to the report. The pace, though, is slightly lower than in the two previous springs, which saw increases of 4.7% in 2024 and 5.1% in 2025. Most sectors also experienced smaller increases this spring than in the last two springs. The findings also show that dual enrollment continues to drive enrollment at all types of institutions, but particularly at community colleges, which saw this spring an 11.4% increase (103,056 additional students), surpassing more than 1 million total students. Last spring, the increase was 4.3% (or 37,341 students) and 9.9% (78,531) in spring 2024. Increases at all types of colleges Enrollment increases this spring occurred at community colleges with all types of focus — high transfer (5.5%), high vocational (2.8%) and mixed transfer (1.8%). During a Zoom briefing on Wednesday with reporters, NSC Research Center officials noted the figures indicate that students are still interested in transferring to a four-year institution, even as more are seeking a technical education and certificate route. “Students are continuing to see the community college as a viable pathway into that four-year degree,” said Matthew Holsapple, the center’s senior director of research. Two-year colleges’ health professions programs continued to see strong enrollment gains at 7.1%, or 53,628 additional students. The programs also saw a continued increase at four-year institutions and primarily associate-degree-granting baccalaureate institutions. In addition, mechanical and repair technologies/technician programs at community colleges saw a strong enrollment boost at 9.8% or 11,934 students. Liberal arts and sciences, general studies and humanities — which comprise the largest share of community college majors at 1.4 million — saw a 1.3% increase (or 18,766 students). Meanwhile, enrollment in computer and information science programs at community colleges dropped -11.2% or 24,679 students, following a similar trend across all types of institutions. Other findings Community college enrollments among White students continued to decline this spring (-1.1% or 21,688), dropping below 2 million. Meanwhile, Hispanic student enrollment at community colleges continued its post-Covid surge, up 6.5% (89,088), to about 1.4 million. In spring 2022, it was 1.1 million. Black students at community college also saw a slight increase this spring (4.2%, or 29,828, to 740,343). Urban community colleges — which comprise 51.5% of total community college enrollment with 2.9 million students — saw a 5.7% increase spring-over-spring. Rural colleges, with 590,540 students, saw a 7.4% increase. Part-time enrollment continued to outpace full-time enrollment at community colleges. Part-time enrollment increased 3.3% (increasing by 122,0537 students to 3.8 million), while full-time student enrollment edged up 2.6% (increasing by 50,067 to almost 2 million). The post Certificate programs continue to lead enrollment growth first appeared on Community College Daily .

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