This audio is generated automatically. Please let me know if you have any comments.
Diving overview:
- Spring 2024 undergraduate enrollment increased 2.5% from the previous year, marking the second consecutive semester of increase. A new report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center shows these gains in higher education.
- The overall increase, representing about 359,000 additional students, was primarily at community colleges, which saw increases in both full-time and dual enrollment, the report said.
- However, despite these increases, higher education enrollment rates are still well below pre-COVID levels. Doug Shapiro, executive director of the research center. In a call with reporters Tuesday, he called the pandemic's lasting effects a “lingering hangover.”
Dive Insights:
Colleges and universities are slowly recovering from sharp enrollment declines caused by the pandemic and broader demographic issues plaguing the sector. The clearinghouse found that undergraduate student enrollment for fall 2023 increased 1.2% compared to the previous year. This is the first increase in 10 years.
Although undergraduate enrollment has not returned to pre-pandemic levels, the university has reason to be optimistic, Shapiro said.
“This is especially true for community colleges, which have been among the hardest hit during the pandemic,” he said.
Enrollment at these institutions increased 4.7% this spring compared to the previous year, adding approximately 200,000 students. This represents nearly half of the overall gains in the higher education sector, despite community colleges accounting for only a quarter of higher education enrollments, the clearinghouse said.
Dual enrollment students (high school students who also take community college classes) have also increased in number for the third consecutive year. An additional 101,000 students enrolled in college courses this semester, a 10% increase over the previous year. This accounted for 28.1% of the overall undergraduate enrollment increase.
Graduate school enrollment this spring specifically outpaced undergraduate enrollment, the report said. Enrollment at this level increased 3%, or approximately 88,000 students, reversing the 2.4% year-over-year decline seen in spring 2023.
Shapiro also noted how the lackluster debut of the new Free Application for federal student aid could affect undergraduate enrollment.
The U.S. Department of Education released the abbreviated federal aid form in late December, about three months later than usual.
Congress ordered institutions to create forms that are notoriously difficult for students and their families to fill out. But delays and ongoing glitches with the new form have left many students confused and unable to submit their forms.
As of May 10, only 40.2% of high school students had completed the FAFSA, down from 49.6% at the same time last year, according to the National College Achievement Network.
Shapiro said the number of falls is likely to take a hit due to FAFSA issues.
“We don’t know how many,” he said. “This is another potential blow out of left field for higher education, just like the pandemic.”
FAFSA difficulties are likely to impact some prospective students more than others, Shapiro said.
“I think students who were planning on going to college in the fall will get through the FAFSA,” he said.
Shapiro said the flawed launch was most likely to impact students who were thinking about going to college. “I think a lot of them would have already made other plans,” he said.