Spring Enrollment Steady, but Not for All Institutions

Rising numbers of community college students kept total enrollment across all sectors of higher education flat this spring despite a decline in the largest category of institutions by share of enrollment: public four-year universities. Data released today by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center come after enrollment declines at colleges and universities across the country during the COVID-19 pandemic. The preliminary data offer a peek at spring 2023 enrollment compared to spring 2022. Community college enrollment increased by 2.1 percent this spring compared to a year earlier, and undergraduate enrollment at private four-year institutions also increased, rising by 0.8 percent at nonprofit institutions and 2.2 percent at for-profit institutions. But four-year public universities’ undergraduate enrollment fell by 0.9 percent, and Shapiro noted that roughly 45 percent of all students in higher education attend such institutions.