Spring Enrollment Steady, but Not for All Institutions
Jaime Adame
March 29, 2023
Preliminary data from the National Student Clearinghouse show flat enrollment across all sectors of higher education. Enrollment rises at community colleges and in certificate programs, while bachelor’s-degree-seeking students dip.
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.
In fall 2022, the undergraduate enrollment decline slowed to 0.6 percent, according to Clearinghouse data, and, over all, “I think stabilization is still pretty much where we are,” said Doug Shapiro, executive director of the organization’s research center.
