
San Diego's high school graduates are facing the residual effects of the pandemic, particularly in their pursuit of higher education. A new report from the San Diego Education Research Alliance at UC San Diego (SanDERA) and the San Diego County Office of Education has provided a clearer perspective on such impacts. There's been a noticeable decrease in enrollment in both four- and two-year colleges among the city's seniors, signaling a shift from the pre-pandemic era.
According to data gathered from the National Student Clearinghouse, post-secondary enrollment has shown a stark contrast. Pre-COVID times for the class of 2019 saw 67.7% enrollment in college, whereas the classes of 2020, 2021, and 2022 saw declines to 64.5%, 64.4%, and 66.4%, respectively. It's not just about the statistics. These numbers represent San Diego's youth and their altered trajectories. As Shannon Coulter, the director of assessment, accountability, and evaluation for SDCOE, points out, as per the San Diego County Office of Education, "I think community colleges and community leaders need to think about how they re-engage students who graduated in 2020 and 2021."
The dip in college enrollment has varied effects across different types of institutions. While four-year college enrollments for the class of 2021 and 2022 bounced back and even exceeded previous years, two-year colleges have not seen the same rebound. The report indicates that for the class of 2020, the pandemic's direct impact was most severe on two-year college enrollment, which saw a continuing decline for subsequent classes before a partial recovery with the class of 2022.
This trend has disproportionately affected students from more disadvantaged backgrounds. In the class of 2020, those who were socioeconomically disadvantaged saw their enrollment in two-year colleges plummet by 4.1 percentage points compared to a mere 2.0 percentage point drop among their never-disadvantaged peers. On the other hand, the decrease in four-year college enrollment for the class of 2020 was sourced from graduates who had never been socioeconomically disadvantaged.