Merced College lost up to $5M revenue due to enrollment decline from COVID-19
Merced College officials estimate the campus lost anywhere from $4 to $5 million in revenue this year, primarily due to declining enrollment due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite the massive revenue hit, college officials say several measures have already helped soften the blow.
The school was able to recoup much of those funds through a combination of federal COVID-19 relief and emergency protection measures put into place by the chancellor of the California Community Colleges system, according to Joe Allison, vice president of administrative services.
Now that Merced College and its Los Banos campus are now open for in-person classes, college staff are continuing their effort to inform students of the opportunities at the school. The ultimate hope is that many of those students who left during the pandemic will return for fall semester.
“The pandemic and the reopening of California have created some competing priorities for potential students who are looking to join the workforce,” Mike McCandless, vice president of student services, wrote in an email to the Sun-Star.
“It’s important for those students to know that we have flexible course offerings and can accommodate their academic pathway while they continue to work.”
Allison said the school received around $45 million in one-time federal COVID relief funds over the past year. The total funding included around $27 million for institutional use and $18 million for (cash) direct aid to students.
The state has also provided help to local community colleges statewide, allowing colleges to average out the last three years of enrollment and not count 2020 enrollment levels, in order to lessen the financial impact from COVID.
The college also stands to benefit from the millions for community college in the proposed state budget.
Total student enrollment — which includes both full and part time students — dropped 6.9% in fall semester 2020, going from 9,883 students in fall 2019 to 9,197 last year.
In spring semester the campus reported a 3.6% drop among all students — 9,127 students in spring 2020 compared to 8,800 students this spring semester.
In the fall 2019 there were 4,412 full-time students enrolled compared to 4,000 full-time students enrolled last year, a 9.3% decrease. Last spring there were 4,001 full-time students enrolled, and in spring of 2021 there was 3,500 — a 12.5% decrease.
Summer enrollment shows positive signs
With the recent reopening of the state, many of the opportunities for in-person classes are also returning.
Karissa Morehouse, assistant superintendent and vice president of instruction, said summer enrollment is strong, as a total of 5,186 students are taking summer courses, with 1,555 being full-time students compared to 1,151 students taking full-time courses last year — a 35% increase.
As the year passed by, McCandless and officials have taken into account that a large population of the students prefer in-person instruction. However, they also know some students moving forward will still prefer an online learning model, “so it’s important for the college to be accommodating of students’ preferences,” said McCandless.
Plus, the remodeling of the college’s vocational building and the new Raj M Kahlon Agriculture and Industrial Technology Complex are projects officials hope will also attract more students to the college moving forward.
The college has also taken advantage of social media and television advertisements as tools to reach new students, said Jill Cunningham, associate vice president of external affairs.
“The pandemic has presented unique challenges in areas like marketing and advertising, but we have taken this as an opportunity to really clarify our message to students and the value we provide as an academic institution,” she said.
“We are grateful to be able to serve such a dedicated, hardworking student population, and we are proud of our role in serving the Merced community.”
This story was originally published June 29, 2021 at 5:00 AM.