Table 2 reports enrollment changes by field. We focus on YOY changes from Fall 2019 to Fall 2020 and Fall 2020 to Fall 2021. Some fields experienced large enrollment losses in the pandemic. Among larger fields, Education, Engineering and Industrial Technologies, and Interdisciplinary Studies each lost more than 20 percent of enrollment from Fall 2019 to Fall 2020 and Fine and Applied Arts lost 19 percent. On the other side of the spectrum, Physical Sciences, Biological Sciences, Foreign Language, and Psychology experienced enrollment losses of 3 percent or less in Fall 2020. Enrollment losses from Fall 2020 to Fall 2021 shifted a little with some new fields experiencing large losses. Foreign Language, Mathematics, and Social Sciences each experienced losses of 15 percent or higher. Interestingly, Engineering and Industrial Technologies reversed course with an increase of 7 percent in enrollment in Fall 2021 after losing 30 percent in Fall 2020.
Course Enrollment Losses from Fall 2019 to Fall 2021 by Field of Study
| Field of Study . | Fall 2019 . | Share of Fall 2019 . | Fall 2020 . | Change Fall 2019 to Fall 2020 . | Fall 2021 . | Change Fall 2020 to Fall 2021 . |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture and Natural Resources | 29,340 | 1% | 27,590 | −6% | 27,043 | −2% |
| Biological Sciences | 158,068 | 4% | 155,834 | −1% | 139,265 | −11% |
| Business and Management | 213,162 | 6% | 205,463 | −4% | 187,952 | −9% |
| Education | 235,900 | 6% | 170,320 | −28% | 166,445 | −2% |
| Engineering and Industrial Technologies | 135,155 | 4% | 94,621 | −30% | 100,778 | 7% |
| Family and Consumer Sciences | 164,299 | 4% | 151,585 | −8% | 134,084 | −12% |
| Fine and Applied Arts | 288,652 | 8% | 233,206 | −19% | 213,806 | −8% |
| Foreign Language | 75,224 | 2% | 75,097 | 0% | 63,031 | −16% |
| Health | 128,296 | 3% | 116,108 | −9% | 113,904 | −2% |
| Humanities (Letters) | 601,017 | 16% | 540,826 | −10% | 468,676 | −13% |
| Information Technology | 100,137 | 3% | 95,778 | −4% | 88,378 | −8% |
| Interdisciplinary Studies | 156,187 | 4% | 120,002 | −23% | 109,491 | −9% |
| Mathematics | 406,154 | 11% | 350,377 | −14% | 285,660 | −18% |
| Media and Communications | 71,154 | 2% | 65,395 | −8% | 61,142 | −7% |
| Physical Sciences | 171,459 | 4% | 168,154 | −2% | 146,880 | −13% |
| Psychology | 175,950 | 5% | 170,450 | −3% | 146,346 | −14% |
| Public and Protective Services | 146,406 | 4% | 123,878 | −15% | 113,389 | −8% |
| Social Sciences | 527,507 | 14% | 503,437 | −5% | 424,031 | −16% |
| Field of Study . | Fall 2019 . | Share of Fall 2019 . | Fall 2020 . | Change Fall 2019 to Fall 2020 . | Fall 2021 . | Change Fall 2020 to Fall 2021 . |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture and Natural Resources | 29,340 | 1% | 27,590 | −6% | 27,043 | −2% |
| Biological Sciences | 158,068 | 4% | 155,834 | −1% | 139,265 | −11% |
| Business and Management | 213,162 | 6% | 205,463 | −4% | 187,952 | −9% |
| Education | 235,900 | 6% | 170,320 | −28% | 166,445 | −2% |
| Engineering and Industrial Technologies | 135,155 | 4% | 94,621 | −30% | 100,778 | 7% |
| Family and Consumer Sciences | 164,299 | 4% | 151,585 | −8% | 134,084 | −12% |
| Fine and Applied Arts | 288,652 | 8% | 233,206 | −19% | 213,806 | −8% |
| Foreign Language | 75,224 | 2% | 75,097 | 0% | 63,031 | −16% |
| Health | 128,296 | 3% | 116,108 | −9% | 113,904 | −2% |
| Humanities (Letters) | 601,017 | 16% | 540,826 | −10% | 468,676 | −13% |
| Information Technology | 100,137 | 3% | 95,778 | −4% | 88,378 | −8% |
| Interdisciplinary Studies | 156,187 | 4% | 120,002 | −23% | 109,491 | −9% |
| Mathematics | 406,154 | 11% | 350,377 | −14% | 285,660 | −18% |
| Media and Communications | 71,154 | 2% | 65,395 | −8% | 61,142 | −7% |
| Physical Sciences | 171,459 | 4% | 168,154 | −2% | 146,880 | −13% |
| Psychology | 175,950 | 5% | 170,450 | −3% | 146,346 | −14% |
| Public and Protective Services | 146,406 | 4% | 123,878 | −15% | 113,389 | −8% |
| Social Sciences | 527,507 | 14% | 503,437 | −5% | 424,031 | −16% |
Notes: Calculated from administrative data from the California Community College system. The total number of course enrollments for credit in each field of study is reported.