ABSTRACT
Community colleges remain a primary pathway into higher education for Black and Latine students. Black and Latine community enrollment acutely declined during COVID-19, largely reflecting the pandemic’s disproportionate impact on these communities of color. While enrollment has since rebounded, it is also important for community college leaders to reflect on their outreach and enrollment strategies and ensure that they align with the needs of their local communities. These enrollment practices are historically entrenched in outreaching to White communities and do not commonly center communities of color. Our study aims to uncover intentional strategies community college leaders can implement based on Black and Latine students’ recommendations.
Our qualitative study takes place in Colinas County, a suburban community with one local community college, where college leaders at Colinas College aimed to enhance outreach efforts for surrounding Black and Latine communities. Guided by CRT and Perna’s conceptual model of college access, we interviewed 43 Black and Latine community college students in Colinas County. We identified a series of recommendations on how community colleges can enhance their outreach efforts to communities of color. Reflecting a strong awareness of racialized K12 and higher education contexts, Black and Latine students recommended proactive outreach efforts, including showing up where communities are located, valuing and leveraging social capital within communities of color, and sharing information on culturally relevant support systems on campus. These outreach efforts can more authentically build relationships with communities of color and encourage community college enrollment.
