College Enrollment Plummets, Losing 1.3 Million Students in Two Years

by Reagan Reese

U.S. college enrollment dropped by nearly 1.3 million students in the past two years, according to a National Student Clearinghouse Research Center report.

Post-secondary enrollment declined 4.1% in spring 2022 for a total of 7.4% in the last two years, Clearinghouse’s report found. Undergraduate enrollment is responsible for most of the decline, down 9.4% before the pandemic.

Public universities lost more than 604,000 students in spring 2022, with community colleges experiencing the greatest drop, the report showed.

Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Utah and West Virginia were states that saw an increase in enrollment in spring 2022 — in part due to the states’ robust number of online universities, the report found.

Enrollment fell 3.2% since spring 2021 for students ages 18 through 24, according to the report. In 2020, enrollment from college-aged students was down 5%.

Both computer science and psychology majors for undergraduates saw increased enrollment, while other disciplines either stagnated or declined.

The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center did not immediately respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

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Reagan Reese is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.