The Rancho Santiago Community College District has seen an increase in enrollment in its two colleges – Santa Ana College and Santiago Canyon College – in each of the past three years, and district officials credit the increase to its strategy of targeting specific demographic segments and having initiatives in place to ensure the growth continues to trend upward.
These approaches have become necessary with the number of students graduating from high schools in Orange County slipping downward.
“So, I think for us, the fact that we pivoted quickly to assess the data and look at whom we would be serving five years out has really benefited us,” said Enrique Perez, vice chancellor of RSCCD. “You can see it just in the dramatic increases in enrollment.”
In a recent PowerPoint presentation in front of the RSCCD board of trustees, Perez showed that the number of credit and noncredit students enrolled at Santa Ana College and Santiago Canyon College for the 2023-24 school year was 106,059, up from 94,187 the previous year.
Enrollment was at 79,932 in 2012-22 and 74,854 in 2020-21, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
Of the total number of students in the district in 2020-21, 1,330 earned an associate degree, certificate of achievement or certificate of proficiency; 854 students accomplished one of those milestones in 2021-22 and 1,319 did it in 2022-23.
Of the total number of students in the district, nearly 6,500 went on to a four-year university in 2021-22 and 2022-23 combined.
The driving forces behind the increase began with the district’s response to the pandemic, Perez said.
When schools and colleges everywhere shut down in March 2020, RSCCD was the last district to shut down classroom instruction and the first to bring students back to the classroom when the virus began easing up, the vice chancellor said.
“When you look at the 72 districts across the state as we do, it is really unprecedented,” Perez said. “And that had a lot to do with the leadership of our board to have the stomach to do that. We waited until the last minute because we know who we serve and those students who need to be on campus.”
The pandemic led to a dramatic spike in online classes, and the number of students who take online courses remains high to this day.
At about the same time the virus’ stranglehold began to ease up, the district had already decided to focus its enrollment efforts on two areas: dual enrollment and workforce training, which includes apprenticeships.
Through a dual enrollment partnership between the college district and Orange Unified School District, OUSD students can earn transferable college credits by taking college-level classes while still in high school.
While the dual enrollment program is open to all students, including those in private schools and outside the Orange Unified district, RSCCD targets economically disadvantaged students, said Jason Parks, vice president of Academic Affairs for Santiago Canyon College.
“We’re chasing students where college probably wasn’t spoken about in their homes,” Parks said. “And they may not know the opportunities. They may not have that confidence to try college. And so, I think we’re opening up that opportunity. I don’t know if there’s anyone out there that we’re not partnering with on dual enrollment.”
Another reason for the growth is the number of apprenticeships being offered by the district.
Santago Canyon College ranks No. 2 among California’s 116 community colleges in the number of apprenticeships offered.
SCC currently offers 10 apprenticeships that serve about 5,400 students in fields that include carpentry, mechanics, surveying, cosmetology and construction.
Because of the success of its apprenticeship offerings, RSCCD Chancellor Marvin Martinez was appointed by California Community Colleges Chancellor Sonya Christian to take the lead on the Apprenticeship Pathway Demonstration Project, which aims to create a roadmap for colleges to expand apprenticeships and give college credits for classroom instruction and on-the-job training in the curriculum.
“If you’re an apprentice, you get two big things,” Martinez said. “One is you get to be an apprentice and complete the hours, and so forth. But the other thing is that we can convert all of the hours that you’re generating as an apprentice into college credits.”
SCC was recently awarded a $1.75 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, which will fund apprenticeships for students pursuing careers in the wastewater industry.
The college is also forging a partnership with the Orange County Conservation Corps, a nonprofit organization serving “young, at-risk adults through employment, training and educational programs that build self-sufficiency and benefit the community through conservation-driven projects.”
