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- Category: Education, Safety Net

POLICY BRIEF: Trends in Community College Enrollment and CalFresh Eligibility During the COVID-19 Pandemic
PRESS RELEASE: New Research Shows How Enrollment and CalFresh Eligibility Changed at California Community Colleges During the Pandemic
When the COVID-19 pandemic began, the federal government responded by expanding the country’s safety-net programs, including through stimulus payments. There were also significant federal policy changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the largest food assistance program in the United States. Benefit amounts were increased, and eligibility rules were changed to make more people eligible, including by temporarily broadening college student eligibility for SNAP. CalFresh is California’s version of SNAP. This policy brief describes how eligibility for CalFresh changed among community college students because of broader college enrollment changes during the height of the pandemic and due to the temporary eligibility changes Congress made to SNAP.
Key Findings
1. Enrollment in the California community colleges declined significantly following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In Fall 2019, there were 1.57 million students enrolled. By Fall 2021, that dropped to 1.26 million, a 20% decline. Enrollment began to recover in Fall 2022 but is still below pre-pandemic levels.
2. Students who remained in the California community college system during the pandemic had higher incomes, on average, than before. The average income of students, as reported on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) rose from $48,500 in Fall 2018 to $56,300 in Fall 2021 (not counting pandemic-era stimulus payments), a 16% nominal (not inflation-adjusted) increase and a 6% increase in inflation-adjusted income.
3. Enrollment declines also varied by student race/ethnicity. Declines were the largest for American Indian or Alaska Native (-27%) and Black and Asian (-22%) students, and relatively less severe among White students (-17%) and students with two or more racial/ethnic categories (-9%).
4. Federal policy changes temporarily added two new exemptions to the “Student Rule,” which increased the share of California Community College students who were eligible for CalFresh. If the rules had not changed, the share of eligible students likely would have declined slightly because of increases in average income and household size during this same time period.
5. Between Fall 2018 and Fall 2021, the share of CalFresh-defined students whose incomes were low enough to qualify decreased from 54% to 50% (orange and blue bars combined). However, among the subgroup of CalFresh-defined students who were income eligible, a much larger share now met an exemption, increasing from 35% in Fall 2018 to nearly 69% in Fall 2021.
6. Three federal policy changes temporarily and dramatically increased the size of CalFresh benefits. Between the last pre-pandemic term (Fall 2019) and Fall 2021, the average per capita monthly allotment more than doubled, from $123 to $245 per month.
Suggested citation: Ayers, S., Hogg, J., Lacoe, J., Perez, A., Rothstein, J. (2025). Trends in Community College Enrollment and CalFresh Eligibility During the COVID-19 Pandemic. California Policy Lab, University of California. https://capolicylab.org/trends-in-community-college-enrollment-and-calfresh-eligibility-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/