The factory he worked at cut hours and, with extra time on his hands, Tavarez was in search of new ways to keep busy.
Nearly a year later and with remote learning behind him, Tavarez is now back in the classroom and just one class away from completing his associate’s degree.
The pandemic, he said, is what brought him back to school in pursuit of a new career.
“It was a good decision to be able to build a career and to have something you could someday pass down to your kids,” Tavarez said. “Getting this job, it’s something you could teach your kids, build your own company and go from there.”
Tavarez is just one of the hundreds of students locally pursuing a community college education this summer despite the challenges of the pandemic.
Nationally, community colleges have seen the largest dips in enrollment during the pandemic. While four-year schools saw only a slight decrease and some graduate admissions skyrocketed, data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center shows a double digit decline this year at community colleges.
Despite this, Ivy Tech data shows steadier trends and educators say they are optimistic existing programs and a new set of initiatives enacted during the pandemic will encourage students to enroll this fall.
Between this spring and last spring, preliminary National Student Clearinghouse data shows, community college enrollment across the country dropped 11.3 percent. Experts say student demographics could help explain the change.
Community colleges typically tend to enroll students who are older, in their late 20s on average, and have already entered the workforce, said Martha Parham, senior vice president of public relations for the American Association of Community Colleges. Students may be taking classes part time while working a full-time job and balancing family life at home. Many are first-generation college students and some may have struggled finding internet access when classes went remote.
"They may not have the bandwidth, figuratively or literally, to really take classes," Parham said.
While early enrollment reports show steep declines at two-year schools, Ivy Tech Community College — one of the largest community college systems in the country — has fared better than national trends.
Statewide, the Ivy Tech system saw only about a 5-percent decline in overall enrollment between 2020 and 2021. Ivy Tech South Bend-Elkhart's overall enrollment stayed flat with just a difference of just three students between 2020 and 2021.
Campus data show the number of "regular" credit earners dropped by more than 8 percent.
David Balkin, chancellor of the Ivy Tech South Bend-Elkhart campus, said some traditional students on a two-year or four-year path may have decided to wait out the remote learning phase of the pandemic.
"If you're going to pay for a college experience, ideally you want the whole college experience," Balkin said. "I've met several students throughout the community that have basically said, 'I've tried to learn online. That's not my strength, so I'm going to sit out until I can come back face to face.'"
Enrollment overall at the South Bend- Elkhart campus stayed steady, however, with an increase in non-credit earners, or employed professionals seeking continuing education within their industry. The campus enrolled 435 more non-credit earners this year nearly matching the 456 fewer "regular" credit seekers enrolled this year.
Even before the pandemic, Balkin said, Ivy Tech officials were closely monitoring change in regular credit enrollment as the state's overall high school enrollment declines, shrinking the pool of students heading into higher education.
Nearly half of overall enrollment at the South Bend- Elkhart campus is dual credit seekers, who are typically high school students seeking college credits and industry certifications following Indiana's growing emphasis on college and career readiness skills.
"One thing that we are investigating and trying to figure out how best to accommodate is the fact that as we grow our dual credit and dual enrollment activity, obviously that will impact the number of traditional students that come to Ivy Tech," Balkin said.
Though the South Bend- Elkhart campus sustained some loss as revenue-generating enrollment dipped this year, campus officials said in a recent trustees meeting they expect to finish the year with nearly $2 million available to add to campus reserves, which sat empty just three years ago.
Ivy Tech South Bend-Elkhart was awarded more than $4.2 million in federal pandemic relief. And, the campus cut costs in the pandemic, saving $150,000 to $200,000 in travel expenses and about $2.4 million on employee compensation with fewer people needed on campus after many services moved online.
As campuses return to greater in-person learning, community colleges across the country are banking on a return of those students who may have decided to wait out virtual learning.
To appeal to those students, Parham said, community colleges will need to invest in wraparound services supporting needs heightened during the pandemic.
"College presidents and leaders are really looking at how they can meet students where they are," Parham said. "Is it support services? Do they need child care, food, housing, transportation? What are the barriers for students?"
And now, as vaccine becomes readily available, community colleges are facing a new challenge — businesses everywhere are looking to hire.
"People are looking for jobs," Parham said. "It feels safer to get a job coming out of a pandemic where everything was so not concrete."
Trends in enrollment this summer have been encouraging for the South Bend- Elkhart campus. The campus has enrolled 1,645 students, up more than 5% from last summer just after the pandemic began.
Kelly Friend, executive director of career coaching and employer relations for Ivy Tech South Bend-Elkhart, said existing programs like the college's IvyCares initiative were quick to help students with emergency costs at the onset of the pandemic.
South Bend- Elkhart spent more than $400,000 this year in its IvyCares program. The campus helped cover students' electricity and internet bills and paid off small amounts of debt, Friend said.
A new director of community outreach will work with local organizations to connect with prospective students and two programs this summer will assist high schoolers who may have struggled academically during the pandemic.
Bridging the Gap, a partnership between Ivy Tech and the state, is opening up entry-level Ivy Tech courses to graduating seniors who did not meet math and English benchmarks this spring to prepare for college-level studies in the fall.
And, Crossing the Finish Line will allow more than 200 local high school students who fell just shy this year of completing a college-credit program the opportunity to finish their credential with the cost of tuition, fees and books covered.
If and when students are ready to enroll this fall, they'll be met with a new tuition model Ivy Tech leaders say they hope relieves some of the burden students face when deciding how to finance their education.
College officials recently unveiled a new Ivy+ tuition model which will freeze tuition over the next two academic years and pay the cost of students' textbooks for at least the next year.
The college will cap full-time tuition at $4,500 per year regardless of how many credits students opt to take.
And, Friend said, some online and virtual options are likely to remain to help students overcome barriers like child care or transportation. The college also plans to up its mental health counseling for those who need it.
"For the student success part, it's one thing less the student has to worry about because they're living these stressful lives," Friend said. "This allows them to have exactly what they need on the day that they need it without having to worry about it."
©2021 the South Bend Tribune (South Bend, Ind.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
