Case Study: Pima Community College achieves affordable, accessible online education with D2L Brightspace

Removing Economic Barriers to Education

Pima Community College, a six-campus institution serving 44,000+ learners around Tucson, faced economic, geographic and scheduling barriers that limited access to education and contributed to declining enrollment. College leaders needed to reduce student costs—especially for textbooks—provide a reliable, consistent online learning environment, and better prepare a diverse, often nontraditional student population for careers.

Pima adopted D2L Brightspace, standardized course shells and faculty mentoring, implemented 20 OER-based courses (enabling a fully online Associate in Liberal Arts with no textbook costs), and added accessible video tools. The work has saved students $409,000 to date (projected to reach $1M), improved student satisfaction and LMS reliability, reversed enrollment declines, produced award-winning courses, and strengthened employer partnerships for job-ready graduates.

Pima Community College

Carlos Carrillo

Director of Learning Management Systems and Services