Community College Enrollment Explodes But Federal Support Does Not Keep Up

According to the US Department of Education enrollment at our 1,045 community colleges grew  by 741% from 1963 to 2006 compared with 197% at public four year colleges. From 2000 to 2005 community college enrollment grew by 4.2 million students. This is astounding enrollment growth, but federal aid for students to attend has not kept up. According to the Delta Project on College Costs , federal aid to community colleges is one third of the amount given per full time equivalent student to public four year colleges. This makes a  good case for the Obama Administrations’ new focus on community colleges, but it is unclear whether more federal aid will be forthcoming after the stimulus package. Obama’s 2010 budget did not have much to close the gap between 2 and 4 year colleges.