BY MATT LAMB
Staff Writer
Sandhills Community College is making progress following the enrollment doldrums caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
SCCPresident Sandy Stewart recently broke out six years’ worth of data across the North Carolina Community College System for the school’s Board of Trustees. According to Stewart, 2018-2019 was the last full school year unaffected by the pandemic, and the fall 2019 semester was the last full academic semester not impacted.
Community colleges measure students using multiple metrics, including “full-time equivalent” (FTE), defined as students enrolled in 16 credit hours per semester over two semesters. Additionally, schools use “student count,” the overall number of unduplicated students enrolled during any specific period, regardless of hours.
At Sandhills and across the state’s other community colleges, enrollment, for the most part, bottomed out in 2020. Looking at enrollment each fall, statewide FTEs from 2019 to 2020 dropped 11 percent, from just over 107,000 to just under 96,000. Overall head count numbers decreased 17 percent, from around 422,000 to just under 350,000.
Similarly, at Sandhills, during the same period, FTEs dropped 10 percent, from 1,851 to 1,674. Overall head count also dropped 10 percent from 7,252 to 6,558.
Since 2020, both head count and FTEs at the state level and at Sandhills have experienced net growth, surpassing pre-pandemic levels.
In the fall of 2025, across the state’s community colleges, FTEs increased to around 117,500, a 23 percent increase from the COVID-19 lows. Overall student count also rose 23 percent to just under 430,000.
Locally, fall FTEs increased 16 percent from 2020 to 2025, topping out at 1,946, an overall net increase from before the pandemic of 6 percent. During the same period, total Sandhills students rose to 7,868, a 20 percent post-pandemic increase, representing a net 10 percent increase from 2019.
Stewart said that, historically, as unemployment rates increase, community college enrollment increases; however, current trends buck that assumption. In 2022, there was a point of divergence in Moore County: Unemployment rates continued to drop, but the number of fall FTEs began to rise dramatically.
As for types of students attending Sandhills, proportions have remained relatively consistent pre- and post-COVID. Currently, 56 percent of Sandhills students are enrolled in a credit-bearing “curriculum” program, a 1-percentage-point increase from 2019.
The overall proportion of “workforce continuing education” students — those seeking job skills — has remained at 39 percent since 2019. Students taking “basic skills” courses dropped from 6 percent to 5 percent from 2019 to 2025.
Based on waitlist counts, Sandhills currently has significant demand across its workforce programs this school year, including:
- Construction Trades – 143;
- Transportation – 117;
- Health Care – 84;
- Manufacturing – 75;
- Business – 41; and
- Public Safety – 13
As for students looking to attend four-year universities, community college transfers outperform other students by a slim margin. Based on the fall 2024 semester, community college transfers earned a 3.16 grade point average in their first year, compared to students transferring from one university system school to another, at a 3.04 GPA. Students coming from private colleges to public universities earned a 3.01 GPA in their first year.
Sandhills students during their first year at a university earn a GPA just under the statewide average, at about 3.13.
The college also holds its own against many larger community colleges across the state in terms of transfer students. Sandhills is 17th in overall size but transfers the ninth-most students to the university level.
Regarding classes by instructional type, Stewart said COVID-19 sparked a shift toward more online and hybrid formats. “Online and hybrid classes are consistently cited by students as important to overcome transportation barriers, work scheduling conflicts and other logistical challenges of bringing instructors and students together.”
In the fall of 2025, 42 percent of all Sandhills curriculum students were enrolled in online classes, compared to 26 percent in 2019. Thirty-seven percent of students are enrolled in hybrid or blended classes, compared to 22 percent in 2019. Finally, and most poignantly, 21 percent of students are enrolled in traditional classes, compared to 52 percent in 2019.
Finally, by home county, the majority of Sandhills students hail from Moore County, at 55 percent of the student population. Hoke County students account for 17 percent of the student body, while the rest, 28 percent, are from elsewhere.
Contact Matt Lamb at (910) 693-2479 or mlamb@thepilot.com.
