Due to changing environmental conditions arising in the past ten to fifteen years, many community colleges fbr the first time in their relatively short history have experienced enrollment decline. Although the literature provides suggestions and recommendations for institutions to take, there is little discussion in the literature about what institutions are actually doing in response to enrollment decline. The purposes of this study were to determine how community colleges coped with and responded to enrollment decline, and to determine the effectiveness of these actions in reducing, halting, or turning around the decline.

Survey research was used to collect descriptive data on how community colleges coped with and responded to enrollment decline. The findings of the study indicated that the majority of the respondents coped with enrollment decline by taking the following actions: reducing the number of day and night course sections; redesigning the curriculum; and by diverting funds allocated for noninstructional areas of the college to other areas of the college. Actions taken by the respondents to halt or moderate a condition of enrollment decline included: an increased emphasis on recruiting and retaining students; offering courses at times more convenient to students; updating the equipment needs of the college; and an increase in the political activity of the institution at the local or state level to alter current funding formulas. A number of the actions helped the college to cope with and respond to the decline, while others exacerbated the problem leading to further decline.