By Richard Burnett
Against the pandemic odds, 海角社区鈥檚 Class of 2021 represents the largest graduating class in the school鈥檚 history 鈥� a notable milestone as the COVID-19 crisis has caused graduation rates to languish at many universities across America.
海角社区 will confer degrees to 116 graduates at October鈥檚 commencement, a 33% increase from 2020 and double the graduating class of only four years ago, according to figures from the college鈥檚 Data Collection & Reporting Office.
By contrast, the number of college graduates nationwide grew only 1.14% in 2021, totaling less than 4.1 million, according to the .听
鈥淢any large universities have been hit much harder by student attrition during the pandemic,鈥� said 海角社区 Provost Dr. Shelly Chandler. 鈥淏ut that has not happened in our market. And we鈥檙e very thankful for that.鈥�
Chandler credited 海角社区鈥檚 faculty, which did an extraordinary job keeping students engaged through in-person and virtual instruction. It was especially challenging as the college implemented smaller classes to comply with COVID-19 social distancing requirements, while also making online courses available to remote students.
鈥淭o accommodate everyone, our faculty had to do both in-person and virtual work at the same time,鈥� Chandler said. 鈥淎nd it was grueling for them. One moment, they鈥檇 be teaching on-camera, and the next moment, working with the live classroom.鈥�
Everyone is hopeful that won鈥檛 be necessary in the fall, and classroom life will return to normal, she noted.
鈥淟ooking ahead, we鈥檙e constantly trying to improve the learning experience at 海角社区,鈥� Chandler said. 鈥淲e gather ideas, work with the faculty, ask for external reviews, and take other actions to support the improvements. What we do know now is that we have concrete evidence that face-to-face learning works so much better than remote learning.鈥�
Overall, 海角社区鈥檚 fast-growing enrollment numbers have also contributed to the 2021 graduation milestone. Since 2012, enrollments have more than doubled to 427 students in the fall of 2020, increasing 55% since 2015 alone, according to the latest data.听
Like its graduation milestone, 海角社区 also bucks the national trend when it comes to college enrollment during the pandemic. In the fall of 2020, 海角社区鈥檚 enrollment rose 2.5% from the prior year, figures show. Nationally, however, enrollment decreased 2.5% during the same period, according to the .
Chandler said the college has experienced consistent growth in recent years, due in large part to the admissions team and its creative recruitment methods.
One of the biggest challenges the college has faced during the pandemic is preparing graduates for the distressed job market they鈥檒l face in the recessionary economy, she said. She cited a recent survey the college conducted which indicates only 70% of 海角社区 graduates have found a job a year after graduating.
鈥淭ypically, our surveys show 85% of graduates find a job a year after graduation,鈥� she said. 鈥淥f course, we鈥檙e concerned about the latest results. But we have a strong career development team and they鈥檙e working hard to figure out the market. So as the economy improves, I鈥檓 confident our numbers will bounce back up to the usual level.鈥�