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Overview
Among the three Access and Entry indicators, Post-Secondary Fall Enrollment and Technical College Fall Enrollment in the Southwest Florida region improved from last year’s report. Southwest Florida had a total post-secondary fall enrollment of 38,730 students in 2019, up 0.5 percent from the previous fall. Similarly, the region’s 2019 technical college fall enrollment increased 3.1 percent from the prior year to 4,655 students. It should be noted that post-secondary fall enrollment in the state of Florida also increased, by 0.3 percent, in 2019. Data for the state’s technical college fall enrollment are not available.
During the 2019-2020 academic year, the Southwest Florida region had 4,625 students complete a FAFSA application, for a FAFSA completion rate of 36.4 percent – down from 43.5 percent in the 2018-2019 academic year. FASFA completion rates in the state of Florida also decreased between these two academic years, from 45.7 percent to 38.7 percent.
Despite the FAFSA First! Team’s exhaustive efforts at targeted outreach and numerous in-person orientation sessions, FASFA completion rates a decreased significantly during the 2019-2020 academic 10 year. The team’s theory that the COVID-19 pandemic was a leading factor in the decrease in applications is supported by a National Student Clearinghouse Research Center survey10 .
Data on post-secondary fall enrollment and technical college fall enrollment by race and ethnicity for Southwest Florida are also provided in this report. Between 2015 to 2019 in general, the region’s Black and Latinx/Hispanic populations represent a growing proportion of students enrolling in post-secondary education and technical colleges, resulting in a relative decrease in the proportion of students identifying as White. As the region’s population changes, post-secondary education institutions will need to adapt policies and procedures to reduce inequities in outcomes for students of color order to achieve the 55 percent goal of skilled working age adults with college degrees, workforce certificates, industry certifications, and other high-quality credentials.
10 Survey results published in the June 2021 Florida College Access Network newsletter:
