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Building the Post-COVID Pipeline: Invigorating Community Colleges
In February, more than 61 percent of the U.S. population was working—the largest share since the Great Recession. In April, the share dropped almost 10 percentage points, to 51.3 percent, with even larger declines for younger workers, women, minorities, and people with less education. While there has been steady recovery, in October the employment-to-population ratio was still 3.7 percentage points lower than before the pandemic. There are 9 million fewer people employed today than in February.With so many people looking for work, how is it possible that so many employers tell us they are ...
Discussion Paper
Partnerships between Community Development Financial Institutions and Workforce Development Organizations
Inability to secure capital to improve worker skills or expand training programs can prevent growth in a local economy. This paper presents the role CDFIs can play to fill a need for financing in the workforce development sector. While the transactions presented in this paper are unique, they highlight the importance of partnerships between the two industries. Shared missions and an overlapping client base between CDFIs and workforce development practitioners creates a natural pairing for collaboration. In addition, CDFIs are uniquely able to serve as test beds for innovation because of their ...
Discussion Paper
The Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) and Its Impact on Fifth District Community Colleges
As part of the various government stimulus programs in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, institutions of higher education received a total of $77 billion via the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF). HEERF included funds for a broad array of higher education programs, but most funds were allotted for direct student support and for institutional purposes.The CARES Act and the American Rescue Plan required that at least 50 percent of a college or university's HEERF allotment be given to students in the form of direct grants. The Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental ...
Working Paper
Disinvesting in the future?: a comprehensive examination of the effects of state appropriations for public higher education
In aggregate, state appropriations are the largest revenue source for public higher education in the United States. However, these appropriations have significantly declined over past decades, drawing serious concerns about the potential negative impact on schools and students. This paper provides a more comprehensive study of the effects of state appropriations than previous research, while explicitly exploring and testing the heterogeneity of the effects by institutional type. It finds strong evidence of the negative effects of state appropriation cuts in the areas of tuition and fees, ...
Journal Article
Features: Community Colleges and Workforce Training in the Criminal Justice System
Darrin Casper was ready to start fresh."I was just tired of doing the things I was doing. I needed to do something different because I kept winding up in the same place," says Casper, who was released in April 2024 after serving four and a half years in prison in North Carolina. "My family members have always been there for me, and I just needed to make the change."Casper's aunt had been looking for local programs that could help him with the transition and eventually discovered the Craven-Pamlico Re-entry Council. Operated by Craven Community College, the council provides a range of services ...
Journal Article
Upfront: New from the Richmond Fed’s Regional Matters blog
Multiple blog posts.
Journal Article
New from the Richmond Fed’s Regional Matters blog
Discussion Paper
Student Parents: The Power of Wraparound Supports
Many community college students juggle work and family responsibilities alongside their academic pursuits. Wraparound services — such as transportation assistance, child care, mental health counseling and housing — help students meet their non-academic needs, which improves colleges' retention and completion rates. These services also attract adult learners, a key population of community college students.As we have written about previously, funding wraparound services is complicated. Community colleges rely heavily on local, state, and federal funding for their academic programs, but this ...
Discussion Paper
The Changing Higher Education Landscape
The past decade and a half has seen dramatic changes in the higher education landscape, characterized by significant growth in enrollment. This growth has been concentrated mostly in for-profit schools, where enrollment skyrocketed in the first decade of the period, nearly quadrupling between 2000 and 2011. The post-2011 period has been marked by an abatement of this growth. These patterns have strong implications not only for the higher education market but also for the labor force and the economy more broadly. Therefore, it is essential to understand the evolution of the different sectors ...
Journal Article
At the Richmond Fed: Telling the Story of Community Colleges
Community colleges are an important part of the higher education landscape, offering unique educational and training opportunities to workers at all stages of their careers. Nearly half of American workers between the ages of 24 and 64 have attended a community college at some point in their lives.