By Long Beach City College has now become one of the handful of California Community Colleges that has managed to get back to its pre-COVID enrollment level.
Long Beach City College (LBCC) has regained “large college” status after losing it due to declines in enrollment during the pandemic.
The state of California considers a community college to be “large” if it has 20,000 or more full-time equivalent students.
After declining enrollment due to the COVID-19 pandemic, college officials throughout the state have been struggling to get students to enroll at the rate they were before.
“Returning to large college status is crucial for LBCC because it enables us to expand our resources, enhance our academic offerings and better serve our diverse student population,” LBCC Superintendent-President Mike Muñoz said in a press release.
Now due to having a large college status, LBCC can secure more funding from the California Community College Chancellor’s Office, about $2 million annually.
These funds will be used to better support student services and academic programs.
To be able to regain the large college status back and to overall improve the college, an LBCC Strategic Plan was made by the Strategic Plan Oversight Taskforce and College Planning Council.
In the plan, the task force put in detail future goals for the college, including increasing inclusivity, support, care, innovative approaches, synergy and sustainability.
LBCC has also undertaken numerous outreach campaigns, created an inclusive/anti-racist environment and pushed for improving college completion to ensure commitment to the plan.
Services including the Safe Parking Program, allowing students to sleep in their vehicles on campus overnight and a partnership featuring the Boys & Girls Clubs of Long Beach and the Long Beach Unified School District, giving parents the ability to enroll their children in LBCC’s after-school and summer program for free, have assisted the increase in enrollment.
The Long Beach College Promise, which allows most students to pay zero tuition, is a dual enrollment program that grants high school students the ability to take college classes at their high schools, and their award-winning “BeLong Beach” campaign has contributed to this as well.
The high amount of transfer rates to four-year universities is also a key element in LBCC’s flourishing enrollment.
During LBCC’s 2023-24 academic year, enrollment increased to 38,696 students, of which over 20,000 of those enrolled were full-time equivalent students.
There was a 10% increase in Black student enrollment and a record high for the college in five years for new indirect matriculant students in credit classes.
“Our enrollment growth means increased access to education for our community which will improve economic mobility and break cycles of generational poverty,” Muñoz said. “This milestone reflects our commitment to providing exceptional education and support to our community ensuring that every student has the opportunity to succeed and thrive.”
Students walk past a mural located at the Liberal Arts Campus of Long Beach City College. The mural by artist Paul Botello entitled “Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow,” was commissioned during the spring 2024 semester. Photo Credit: Lauren Benson
When asked about which programs and services the funds will go toward, Associate Director of Communications and Community Engagement at LBCC Stacey Toda said there were no specifics yet because the college has not received the funds.
Extended efforts and accolades in improving LBCC’s campus include the following:
- Excelencia in Education recertified the college with the Seal of Excelencia in 2023
- Awarded the 2024 Innovation of the Year Award from The League for Innovation in the Community College for its efforts in improving student’s sense of belonging from 50% to 92%
- Awarded the CABSE Black EdCellence Award in 2023 for its leadership in advancing educational equity for Black and African American students at the Seventh Annual CABSE Education Conference by The California Association of Black School Educators.
- Awarded the 2023 Equity Champions of Higher Education by The Campaign for College Opportunity for working with intentionality to support Black students in obtaining their Associate Degree to transfer to a four-year university.
The numerous efforts from both students and staff of LBCC have not gone unnoticed and are instead emphasized by the college’s faculty.
“Our ability to return to large college status ahead of schedule is a testament to the heroic efforts we’ve made to achieve clear and concrete post-pandemic goals,” Vivian Malauulu, president of the LBCC Board of Trustees said. “This achievement reflects the collective effort of our dedicated employees, from our outreach teams recruiting new students to our faculty and classified staff that ensured their success in the classroom and our future viability as a district.”
