JLARC report warns of shifting community-college enrollments; VCCS pledges five‑year plan and requests Fast Forward funding

Justin Brown of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) told the Virginia Senate Education Subcommittee that community-college enrollment patterns have shifted over the past decade away from traditional academic transfer courses toward dual enrollment, career-and-technical education (CTE), and online delivery. "Students who take asynchronous courses are a little bit less successful on average than students who take courses in person," Brown said, and he recommended more data collection and policy attention to online-course quality and retake patterns.

JLARC’s analysis also found generally strong alignment between many CTE programs and the Commonwealth’s high-demand occupations, with some definitional mismatches in programs such as business administration and certain construction trades. Brown said Fast Forward programs showed particularly strong alignment and high completion rates, and he recommended steps to strengthen credential attainment and better track student outcomes.

Chancellor Dore of the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) told the panel that VCCS agrees with all eight JLARC recommendations and has a state-board-approved five‑year plan to increase regional collaboration, standardize budgeting, coordinate a statewide online presence, and modernize analytics. "We agreed with all of the recommendations of the JLARC report, and all of those recommendations are in progress," Dore said.

Dore provided several system data points during the briefing: VCCS is on its ninth consecutive semester of enrollment growth and is tracking roughly 58,000 dual-enrolled students; she said CCRV (Career and College Ready Virginia) provides participating high-school students access at no cost to the Passport (15 units) and the Uniform Certificate of General Studies (UCGS, 30 units). Dore framed completion of the UCGS as a cost saver for families, stating the system estimates roughly $30,000 in avoided room‑and‑board and tuition costs for a student who completes the UCGS instead of beginning at a four‑year campus.

On workforce outcomes, Dore highlighted VCCS data showing sizeable wage gains for many Fast Forward and CTE completers and expressed strong support for expanding the Fast Forward program. She thanked Senator Rouse for patroning an amendment to fund Fast Forward at $40 million per year, which Dore said would expand capacity and allow the system to provide Fast Forward credentials to roughly 8,000 additional students across Virginia.

Committee members asked questions about whether JLARC’s tracking captures students who start in dual enrollment and later enroll at four‑year institutions (JLARC said transfer and credit applicability vary across institutions) and whether recent federal Workforce Pell rule changes affect Fast Forward eligibility (JLARC noted its work concluded as the rulemaking was underway and flagged that many short Fast Forward credentials currently do not meet Workforce Pell minimum-hour requirements). Senator Ross asked whether funding approaches reach rural campuses; VCCS said minimum allocations were designed to ensure small colleges have access to Fast Forward funding.

No formal motions or votes occurred during the hearing. The subcommittee adjourned and the resources subcommittee will use the room next.

Sources: JLARC presentation (October JLARC report overview) and remarks by Chancellor Dore, Virginia Community College System, at the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee — Education Subcommittee briefing.