Date

8-20-2026

Department

School of Behavioral Sciences

Degree

Doctor of Education in Community Care and Counseling (EdD)

Chair

Tamika Hibbert

Keywords

COVID-19, community colleges, students, mental health, digital learning

Disciplines

Counseling | Education

Abstract

The purpose of this phenomenological study will be to describe the lived experiences of minority students attending a community college in the state of Maryland during the COVID-19 pandemic. The theories guiding this study were Hobfoll’s Conservation Resources Theory as it focuses on the impact of a lack of external and internal resources on mental health when recovering from a prolonged disaster; the Theory of Transformative Learning as it focuses on how new learning processes affect cognitive abilities in different study environments; and The Theory of Connectivism as it focuses on how individuals learn digitally through experiences outside their control regarding the social, conceptual, and neurological. The COVID-19 quarantine affected student mental health and learning due to loss of services and social support. Students experienced challenges to learning due to a shift to digital classes, as governments and educational institutions worldwide were forced to pivot from face-to-face classroom instruction to teaching via remote learning formats, yet they were unprepared. Emerging research shows that college students worldwide have mental health challenges such as depression, suicidal ideology, acute stress, severe anxiety, and others related to the pandemic. Community college students uniquely depend heavily upon campus and local community services to meet their needs, and marginalized students were more vulnerable to lack of services based upon race, culture, gender, sexual identification, and socioeconomic status. Data collection will consist of interviews, letters and focus group participation of students who were enrolled in a community college in Maryland during the pandemic.

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