The fall 2024 semester saw the return of many familiar faces on ACC campuses, along with a growing number of new ones, as enrollment numbers rebound to pre-pandemic levels.
As of Monday, August 26 — the first day of classes — 39,831 students are enrolled at ACC. That is up 12% from last year (35,531) and 17% from the year before (34,103). Pre-pandemic, that number was 40,582.
In addition to the Free Tuition Pilot Program, which accounts for about 30% of the growth, other new financial support programs that may have contributed to increased enrollment this fall include the College’s new free tuition benefit for employee dependents and the Affordability Scholarship.
Take a closer look at the students in these programs below.
Free Tuition Pilot Program
Nearly 5,000 students (4,957, or 12%) enrolled at ACC this fall are part of the Free Tuition Pilot Program which supports 2024 high school graduates and GED completers. The majority of these students, 87%, live within the District.
The top five school districts these students are from are:
- Austin ISD
- Round Rock ISD
- Leander ISD
- Hays CISD
- Pflugerville ISD
Direct-to-college (DTC) enrollments from Austin ISD and Hays Consolidated ISD are above historical trends this year. Other ISDs bucking their DTC trends are Manor, Bastrop, and Elgin.
Hispanic representation is higher in the Free Tuition cohort than overall student enrollment.
| Overall | Free Tuition | |
| Hispanic | 42% | 53% |
| White | 36% | 31% |
| Black | 9% | 7% |
| Asian | 7% | 4% |
More than half of the Free Tuition cohort (53%) are enrolled full-time, which is the same for DTC students historically, but much higher than the overall student body (24%).
More than a third of students (37%) in this cohort chose Distance Education, which is less than the overall student body (44%). The top physical locations selected by Free Tuition students mostly align with the top school districts they are coming from. Highland Campus was the top location for students (15%), followed by Round Rock (10%) and then Cypress, Northridge, Riverside, and South Austin (each at 6%) campuses.
The top three areas of study these students have selected are Liberal Arts – Social and Behavioral Sciences (30%), Liberal Arts – Humanities and Communications (27%), and Science, Engineering & Math (26%).
Affordability Scholarship
Nearly 4,000 students (3,956) enrolled this fall have received an Affordability Scholarship for their fall 2024 classes. This scholarship program was approved by the ACC Board of Trustees in July to honor students who were enrolled in a credit course during the spring 2024 semester — when the Free Tuition Pilot Program was approved.
The top ZIP codes of students receiving this scholarship are located within Leander, Cedar Park, Kyle, Round Rock, Austin (near the Northridge, Highland, South Austin, and Riverside campuses), and Manor. This cohort mirrors the overall college student body in terms of race and ethnicity.
The largest number of students receiving the Affordability Scholarship is in Health Sciences (964), followed closely by Liberal Arts (906). The majority of these students (1,179) started at ACC more than four years ago, followed by those who started during the 2022-23 academic year (787).
Free Tuition for Employee Dependents Benefit
The College’s new employee benefit, approved by the ACC Board this past summer, started this fall. More than 100 employee-dependent students have received free tuition under this new benefit.