When Arona Coelhom, 35, arrived in the United States from India, she heard about a growing demand for healthcare workers. She turned to Northern Virginia Community College and a short, job-focused program that gave her the training to qualify as a certified clinical medical assistant. 

She's not alone. More people are turning to community colleges for fast, skills-focused education that pays off in the labor market.  

Getting bigger isn't the only way to innovate in higher education, say leaders of some small colleges. Their size makes them nimble, which frequently allows them to test bold ideas that challenge conventional thinking about how institutions can offer education, draw in students, and be sustainable. 

But their smallness can also lead to fragility. Many of these institutions tend to find themselves in a perpetual cycle: They thrive for a time, but then acquire a poor leader or experience an unexpected crisis like the pandemic, and struggle again—or even close.

The country’s most selective four-year institutions invest significant resources to recruit talented high school students from across the country. 

But many institutions are overlooking a talented and diverse pool of students in their own backyard: transfer students from local community colleges.