Like many institutions, Philadelphia-area colleges and universities were reeling from the coronavirus pandemic as they entered fall 2020. Mirroring national trends, enrollment was down, particularly among those students most at risk of basic needs insecurity; fewer students completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA); and college retention rates dropped. 

A new report documents how students in the Philadelphia region fared during this challenging time—plus what it will take to ensure they truly thrive once the pandemic ends. 

Over the past five years, Yoslin Amaya would return home in the early-morning hours from her night shift as a janitor to her in-laws’ house in Rockville, Maryland, where she lived in a bedroom with her husband and two sons. While her family slept, she'd crack open a laptop to finish assignments for her college classes. 

Amaya graduated this month, beating tremendous odds. Despite having a higher GPA on average than their peers, 52 percent of student-parents like Amaya leave college within six years without completing their degree. That number could change if more colleges and universities could widen their vision of who their students are—and who they could be.

Access is more than entrance into a discrete academic or training endeavor, writes Achieving the Dream's Karen Stout in this essay, and community colleges must offer that access through a far broader set of supports—both academic and nonacademic.

Stout cites several examples of community colleges that are addressing key elements of a new community-based, equity-focused access agenda. Their work, she says, brings together schools, community organizations, and employers as partners to think comprehensively about the changing needs of students and communities.