Two years after COVID-19 first decimated higher education enrollment, fall 2022 numbers show enrollment is finally stabilizing. But it has a long way to go before it returns to pre-pandemic levels.
That’s according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, which collects data from 97% of all postsecondary institutions in the U.S.
Dr. Doug Shapiro, executive director of the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
That brings the total enrollment decline since fall 2019 to 1.2 million students. Fall 2022 declines were seen in associate, bachelor’s, and, for the first time in two years, graduate degree programs. While community colleges saw a .5% increase in enrollment, it was largely due to a 12% increase in dually enrolled high school students, said Shapiro.
But there is good news, Shapiro added—particularly when it comes to freshman enrollment numbers.
“There is a marked increase in the number of new, entering freshman undergraduates, true at all types of institutions,” said Shapiro, referring to two and four-year, private and public, for-profit and not-for-profit institutions. “Fall 2022 freshman jumped by 4.3%, including 6.1% at community colleges and 3.9% at public four-year institutions. This is a very promising sign for higher education after two straight years in which the number of new, entering students sat at 10% below pre-pandemic levels.”
The good news for freshman continued when disaggregating the data for race and ethnicity. While white freshman was the only racial subgroup to see enrollment decline, all other racial subgroups in the Clearinghouse’s data saw increases. Latinx, Asian, and Native American freshman enrollment all increased by roughly 7%, and Black freshman enrollment stayed steady.
