Federal funding contributes to the educational offerings of these two- and four-year schools. Additionally, from 2012 to 2014, for older students attending community colleges, the decline in enrollment was the largest and highest among all age groups (Juskiewicz 3). The “Affordable Care Act” and “No Worker Left Behind” provided federal funding that interfered with community colleges nationwide. In response to the decline in enrollment, many teachers were fired and their contracts were shorter, and for this reason students were or could remain without a teacher the following school year. There was also a $4.3 million budget deficit hurting the community college system. In 1960, there were 315 two-year institutions with 392,000 students enrolled, but by 1976, they tactically tripled with 926 two-year institutions and over 4 million students (Breneman, Nelson 2-3). That's when community colleges began to thrive. First, there were several reasons why the rapid growth: the baby boom, pioneered the "open door" philosophy, and is great for part-time seniors.