Community College Trustees: Demographics and Trends (1997-2025)

A report highlights increasing diversity and education levels among community college trustees from 1997-2025, with a focus on demographics, education, and key challenges like funding and enrollment.

That is among the large takeaways from a record the Organization of Neighborhood University Trustees released recently in partnership with the Facility for the Research Study of Area Colleges, which shows that the percentage of ladies serving on neighborhood college boards gets on the surge. In between 1997 and 2025, women representation on the boards expanded from 33 percent to 47 percent, with the greatest rises coming in the previous seven years. During the very same period, the percentage of nonwhite trustees grew from about 12 percent to 27 percent.

Trustee Demographics Evolve

In 2025, 64 percent of trustees went to an area college and 27 percent formerly functioned at one, according to the report. In 1997, just 51 percent of trustees had been area college pupils and 22 percent had actually been workers. Today’s trustees also are also showcasing the gaining potential of neighborhood university grads: 71 percent of trustees who participated in a two-year university made at the very least $100,000 a year in 2025, while 31 percent made close to $200,000, according to the report.

“The needs [on] an university president are significant, and [it’s a] challenging work, which is one factor [that] when you get someone, you’ve got to sustain them,” they said. “You employ someone and then you leave their way and let them do what you employed them to do. That is so important.”

In 2025, trustees spent an average of five hours a week aboard duties– minimal adjustment from 1997. Trustees identified funding, gain access to and cost as leading obstacles in 1997, 2018 and in 2025. This year, nonetheless, 63 percent of trustees additionally mentioned enrollment as a top concern, “likely stemming from the truth that most states have actually begun to experience the expected enrollment high cliff,” the record kept in mind.

While differences remain, that break down is currently closer to mirroring the variety of community college students. In 2025, 57 percent of students were females and 58 percent determined as individuals of color, according to data from the American Organization of Area Colleges.

Trustee Education and Earnings

Among trustees who were as soon as area college students, 83 percent have a bachelor’s or greater level, and 54 percent have a grad or professional level. And over all, trustees have ended up being a lot more educated over the previous 28 years. The large bulk of trustees have long held a college level, the percentage with a bachelor’s level climbed from 84 percent to 86 percent between 1997 and 2025; the proportion with a grad or expert degree climbed from 50 percent to 59 percent.

In an interview, one such trustee said that attending a neighborhood university initially enabled them to advance to a college “to obtain my education at a practical price and likewise to enhance my life and my organization.”

Key Challenges: Funding and Enrollment

In 2025, 64 percent of trustees attended a community college and 27 percent previously worked at one, according to the record. In 1997, only 51 percent of trustees had actually been community university student and 22 percent had been workers. Today’s trustees also are additionally showcasing the gaining capacity of neighborhood college graduates: 71 percent of trustees that attended a two-year university made at the very least $100,000 a year in 2025, while 31 percent made near $200,000, according to the record.

Neighborhood college trustees have also maintained high levels of trust in and support for their university leaders. In 2025, 94 percent of respondents suggested a “somewhat or very strong level of trust” between boards and head of states, while 96 reported rather or extremely strong levels of support– numbers that have actually hardly altered considering that 1997.

Trustee Views and Support

For numerous trustees, those direct experiences with the community college system have likewise converted into interest for higher education administration work. “I was a nontraditional university student,” one stated in an interview for the report. “I went back to college with 3 youngsters in tow and obtained my bachelor’s and my master’s, and it’s just something that I rely on.”

Amongst trustees that were as soon as community college trainees, 83 percent have a bachelor’s or higher level, and 54 percent have a grad or specialist level. The large majority of trustees have long held an university degree, the proportion with a bachelor’s level rose from 84 percent to 86 percent between 1997 and 2025; the proportion with a graduate or expert degree climbed from 50 percent to 59 percent.

The report, “Neighborhood College Trusteeship in 2025: A Dedication to Serve,” makes use of studies of greater than 2,000 community college trustees and 40 qualitative interviews with trustees, building on comparable reports from 1997 and 2018. The research shows that trustees “have a pulse on their communities’ requirements, a deep commitment to the neighborhood college goal of open accessibility to top quality college for all individuals, and the type of visionary assuming needed to keep their institutions flourishing,” ACCT head of state and CEO Jee Hang Lee stated in a press release.