The Impact and Opportunity of Community College Digital Transformation

Community colleges are cornerstones of America: they power regional economies, fuel talent pipelines, and position millions of learners for equitable economic mobility.

Yet today, due to challenges such as declining enrollment and retention and increased staff turnover, colleges’ physical and technological infrastructure often no longer fully meets student, faculty, and staff needs.

COVID-19 deepened these challenges, accelerating a transition to virtual modes of work and learning and too often exacerbating historical inequities. But the pandemic has also presented community colleges with an opportunity.

All across the country, community colleges are implementing technology solutions at scale to address these challenges, serving students in a way that’s more fully aligned with this new moment. Simply put, they’re embracing digital transformation.

Digital transformation means far more than implementing new technology. At its best, it offers human-centered cultural transformation of college operations, unlocking opportunities to better serve students, drive impact, and compete in the ever-growing postsecondary marketplace. In an article on Medium, we feature how some community colleges have centered their digital transformation on Salesforce.org Education Cloud, the social impact center of Salesforce that’s focused on “bringing leading-edge technology to educational institutions and nonprofit organizations.”