After pandemic disruption, enrollment at CCAC stabilizes

People walk along Ridge Avenue by CCAC’s Allegheny Campus on Jan. 18, 2024, in Allegheny West. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource) Local community college enrollment dropped steadily after 2010, then took a further beating in 2020. Can CCAC now capitalize on a modest rebound to stabilize revenues and fuel the regional workforce? by Emma Folts, PublicSource The Community College of Allegheny County has lost more than a third of its student body since the pandemic derailed the lives and aspirations of current and prospective students. But this fall, enrollment at the college stabilized. Just over 10,500 students enrolled at the college, known as CCAC, according to data from the institution. That’s about a 0.4% increase from last year. Nationwide, community colleges& reported a 4.4% increase& from the previous year, preliminary data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center shows.& “We’re out of the pandemic, people are getting better equipped to take in-person classes now. They feel like things are coming back to normal,” said Dorothy Collins, vice president for enrollment services at CCAC. “I think we’re trending upward. I’m happy.”& While a silver lining, this small bump in enrollment still reflects a 34% drop from fall 2019 – and roughly a...