Undergraduate Enrollment Grows for The First Time Post Pandemic, Despite Freshmen Declines

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Undergraduate Enrollment Grows for The First Time Post Pandemic, Despite Freshmen Declines

New Report Shows Community Colleges Lead in Enrollment Growth

HERNDON, VA – (OCTOBER 26, 2023) – This fall, undergraduate enrollment grew for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center’s latest report. Initial fall 2023 enrollment data shows undergraduate enrollment increased 2.1 percent compared to 2022 and is now 1.2 percent above 2021 enrollments.

The Stay Informed with the Latest Enrollment Information report for fall 2023 found that graduate enrollment also slightly increased this fall (+0.7%), with continued enrollment growth in graduate certificate programs (+5.7% this year, +9.9% since 2021). This report reflects preliminary data covering 9.6 million undergraduate and graduate students, as reported by 55 percent of Title IV degree-granting institutions that are participating in the Clearinghouse, as of September 28, 2023.

All major sectors grew, but community colleges (+4.4%) accounted for 58.9 percent of the increase in undergraduates. This comes after promising initial gains in community college enrollment last spring. Community college enrollment gains were widespread with students 24 and younger increasing at all levels of pre-college neighborhood income.

Despite overall undergraduate enrollment growth, freshman enrollment declined by 3.6 percent, reversing fall 2022 gains (+4.6%), and now at just 0.8 percent above fall 2021 enrollment. Almost all the freshman declines occurred in bachelor’s programs at public and private nonprofit four-year institutions (-6.9% and -4.7%, respectively), reversing their gains from 2022. Freshmen at community colleges and primarily associate degree-granting baccalaureate (PAB) institutions, meanwhile, largely stabilized following their gains in 2022 (-0.2% and +0.3%, respectively). Notably, freshman losses at four-year institutions were smaller at the less-selective schools (-0.9%) compared to the competitive (-5.5%), very competitive (-7.3%), and highly selective (-5.9%) categories.

“This is good news for community colleges and for the growing numbers of continuing and returning students who had lost momentum from the start of the pandemic,” said Douglas Shapiro, Executive Director of the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. “In a more troubling sign, however, the initial recovery among freshmen last year appears to have stalled as more 18-to-20-year-olds, especially at four-year institutions, are opting out.”

Among the 46 states for which sufficient data is available, less than a quarter had declines in overall enrollment, ranging from -0.3 percent in Hawaii, Nebraska, and New Hampshire to -4.7 percent in Vermont. California, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, and Wyoming all saw enrollment growth of at least 4 percent. A similarly small share of states saw undergraduate enrollment declines.

Other key findings of the report include:

Students continue to gravitate towards shorter-term credentials, with enrollments in undergraduate certificate programs jumping 9.9 percent, compared to 3.6 percent for associate degrees and just 0.9 percent for bachelor’s degrees.
Growth at historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) has outpaced the overall undergraduate enrollment growth (+6.1% vs +2.1%).
Black, Latinx, and Asian students accounted for most of the undergraduate and graduate enrollment growth this fall.
Enrollment of White students continued to decline at both the undergraduate (-0.9%) and graduate levels (-1.9%), and most acutely among freshmen (-9.4%).
Undergraduates grew at both ends of the age spectrum, with students 18-20 and 30 or older each adding about 3 percent this fall. Those under 18 (dual enrolled high school students), however, continued to outpace all undergrads with an 8.8 percent jump.
Among traditional-aged undergraduate students, enrollment is up across all neighborhood income levels, with students from the lowest income areas gaining 3.6 percent and those from the highest income areas gaining 1.4 percent this year.
Female enrollment increased this fall (+1.2%) but at a slower rate than their male counterparts (+2.2%), a continuation of the greater pandemic impact on women first seen in fall 2021.
Enrollment in healthcare programs is starting to rebound after pandemic declines, especially among those seeking undergraduate certificates and associate degrees (+5.7% and +4.4%, respectively).

For the full report, you can visit: Stay Informed with the Latest Enrollment Information. Results are preliminary as of September 28, 2023, and subject to change as more data is reported for the fall of 2023. The complete Fall 2023 Current Term Estimates are scheduled to be released early next year.

About the National Student Clearinghouse^® Research Center™

The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is the research arm of the National Student Clearinghouse. The Research Center collaborates with higher education institutions, states, school districts, high schools, and educational organizations as part of a national effort to better inform education leaders and policymakers. Through accurate longitudinal data outcomes reporting, the Research Center enables better educational policy decisions leading to improved student outcomes. To learn more, visit nscresearchcenter.org.

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The National Student Clearinghouse Announces Helen Mohrmann as Newest Board Member

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The National Student Clearinghouse Announces Helen Mohrmann as Newest Board Member

HERNDON, VA – (AUGUST 22, 2023) – The National Student Clearinghouse announced today that Helen Mohrmann, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) of the University of Texas System (UT System), will join their Board of Directors.

“Helen’s unique depth of background in multiple industries and her current position at the University of Texas System make her a perfect addition to the Clearinghouse board of directors,” said Rick Torres, President and CEO, of the National Student Clearinghouse. “With the evolving information security landscape, the Clearinghouse has had a CISO role as part of its board for the past decade. Helen’s deep subject matter expertise and experiences will serve to advance our mission as a trusted source for higher education data.”

“I am honored to join the Clearinghouse Board and look forward to playing a role in student success through the creation and distribution of unique data resources that will help us better understand student pathways and outcomes,” said Helen Mohrmann. “The Clearinghouse provides valuable reporting, research, verification, transcript, and data exchange that provides numerous time- and cost-saving benefits to students, schools, administrators, and requestors.”

Helen has been in her current role at the University of Texas system since 2016 where she works with each UT System institution to continually improve their security posture and capabilities. Her office is responsible for the development and administration of systemwide policies. Prior to this role, she served as the Chief Information Officer of the Brookings Institution, in various IT roles at Cornell University, and in leadership roles in software and financial services organizations.

Helen has held several advisory and board roles during her career, including as a member of the Texas Cybersecurity Council, a member of the Statewide Information Security Advisory Committee at the Texas Department of Information Resources, and an advisory board member of the Woman’s Mentoring Network at the Brookings Institution.

She holds a B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin, a B.S. from Cornell University, and an A.M. from Harvard University. She is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP).

The Clearinghouse is governed by a board of directors comprised of a cross-section of the constituencies that it serves, including representatives from educational institutions, educational associations, and the education finance industry. The makeup of the Clearinghouse’s board reflects its status as a trusted, neutral, and reliable source for educational information and services.

About the National Student Clearinghouse^®

The National Student Clearinghouse, a nonprofit formed in 1993, is the trusted source for and leading provider of higher education verifications and electronic education record exchanges. Besides working with nearly 3,600 postsecondary institutions, the Clearinghouse also provides thousands of high schools and districts with continuing collegiate enrollment, progression, and completion statistics on their alumni. Education partners throughout the nation trust the National Student Clearinghouse because they know we take our commitment to student privacy very seriously. We focus on serving our customers with high-quality services that they expect from us. The Clearinghouse is scrupulous in its concern for student privacy and compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which protects students’ privacy rights in their education records. For more details, visit studentclearinghouse.org.

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The National Student Clearinghouse Announces Cameron Watt as New Vice President of Sales for Education Solutions

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The National Student Clearinghouse Announces Cameron Watt as New Vice President of Sales for Education Solutions

HERNDON, VA – (JULY 28, 2023) – The National Student Clearinghouse announced today that Cameron Watt will join as the new Vice President of Sales for Education Solutions. In his new role, Cameron will work to build and expand relationships with the Clearinghouse’s nationwide customer base. He will also develop and execute a comprehensive sales and business development strategy to expand the adoption of new education solutions nationwide.

“The Clearinghouse is pleased to welcome Cameron as an integral member of our leadership team,” said Chris Goodson, Chief Growth Officer, of the National Student Clearinghouse. “Cameron has strong leadership skills and a wealth of experience at the nexus of business, cloud technologies, data, and education. His dedication to developing people and teams and his deep experience with the education community will be invaluable to the Clearinghouse and to advancing our mission.”

“I am very excited to join the Clearinghouse, continuing my 25-year career working with the higher ed community,” said Cameron. “This is a fantastic opportunity to leverage my higher ed technology and data experience with a growing organization that has a trusted, 30-year track record serving its stakeholders. I look forward to working with the Clearinghouse team to expand the footprint of existing services and develop new services that help our education partners advance their mission.”

Before joining the National Student Clearinghouse, Cameron served as the Education Sales Director-Northeast at Snowflake, a data cloud solution for organizations looking to store, manage, and leverage their data. He previously was the head of State and Local Government- Northeast for Google Cloud and also spent over six years at Amazon Web Services managing the Enterprise higher ed business across the U.S. Cameron additionally worked at Microsoft for 10 years in various education-related roles including, East Education Sales Manager (K-20).

Cameron received his B.A. in Political Science from Alfred University and his Master of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix.

About the National Student Clearinghouse^®

The National Student Clearinghouse, a nonprofit formed in 1993, is the trusted source for and leading provider of higher education verifications and electronic education record exchanges. Besides working with nearly 3,600 postsecondary institutions, the Clearinghouse also provides thousands of high schools and districts with continuing collegiate enrollment, progression, and completion statistics on their alumni. Education partners throughout the nation trust the National Student Clearinghouse because they know we take our commitment to student privacy very seriously. We focus on serving our customers with high-quality services that they expect from us. The Clearinghouse is scrupulous in its concern for student privacy and compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which protects students’ privacy rights in their education records. For more details, visit studentclearinghouse.org.

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Nearly 76% of Fall 2021 Freshman Class Returned to College by Fall 2022

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Nearly 76% of Fall 2021 Freshman Class Returned to College by Fall 2022

This Persistence Rate Represents a Return to Pre-Pandemic Levels

HERNDON, VA – (JULY 27, 2023) – Of the 2.4 million students who entered college for the first time in the fall of 2021, 75.7 percent persisted at any U.S. institution by fall 2022, according to a new report released today from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. This persistence rate is 0.9 percentage points above the previous cohort and matches the pre-pandemic average for the 2016 to 2018 freshman classes.

The 2023 Persistence and Retention report found that 67.2 percent of fall 2021 entering students were retained at their starting institution for their second year or earned a credential at that institution within a year of enrollment, a rate 0.5 percentage points above the pre-pandemic average. An additional 8.6 percent transferred out and continued enrollment at another institution by their second fall. This transfer-out rate was essentially flat compared to the previous cohort, meaning that gains in persistence among fall 2021 college starters were driven by the higher share remaining at their starting institution into their second year.

“It is very encouraging to see that the students who entered college in the second year of the pandemic have stayed enrolled at higher rates,” said Doug Shapiro, Executive Director of the Research Center. “The 0.9 pp recovery from the suppressed persistence level of those who started in fall 2020 means nearly 22,000 more students are still in college today.”

Not all institution sectors saw persistence and retention improvements. While community colleges, as well as public and private nonprofit four-year institutions, saw increases in both persistence and retention rates this year, private for-profit four-year colleges and primarily associate degree-granting baccalaureate (PAB) institutions experienced declines. This marks the second consecutive year that community colleges saw gains, approaching levels of persistence and retention not seen since the 2018 entering class. Nonetheless, the community college freshman class continued to shrink in fall 2021 while freshman enrollment recovered to pre-pandemic levels in other sectors.

As more people sought short-term, skilled trade credentials in fall 2021, the share of certificate seekers who earned a credential in their first year or persisted into their second fall increased across the top skilled trade majors by enrollment—mechanic and repair technologies, precision production, construction trades, and personal and culinary services. Health care majors’ persistence and retention rates improved at all credential levels, but enrollment in these majors was flat among bachelor’s degree seekers and declined among other undergraduates. Computer science, which witnessed double-digit enrollment growth, has also seen increases in persistence and retention among freshmen at all credential levels.

Nationally, retention rates increased regardless of enrollment intensity, while persistence increased only for full-time students and held steady for part-time students. Public two-year institutions were the only sector to experience increases in both full-time and part-time persistence. Both persistence and retention rates declined for part-time students at public and private for-profit four-year institutions, as well as at PABs.

Disparities by race and ethnicity remain large, with a 26-percentage point persistence rate gap between the highest (88.4% for Asian students) and the lowest (62.1% for Native American students). Of note, Native American student persistence and retention increased after sharp decreases last year. Latinx persistence and retention increased in all sectors except for PABs.

Gender-related disparities were stable at the national level compared to last year’s cohort: Persistence and retention rates for female students are nearly 3 percentage points higher than those of their male peers. However, the magnitude of this gender disparity differs by sector. Public four-year institutions have the smallest gender disparity in both persistence and retention, while private for-profit four-year institutions have the largest.

In terms of age, persistence and retention rates held steady or increased this year for starters 20 years old or younger, leading to a 1.4-percentage point increase in both rates nationally for this group. In contrast, rates for older students fell. Those 21 to 24 lost roughly one percentage point, driven by marked declines in persistence and retention at public and private nonprofit four-year institutions that nearly erased last year’s gains. Those 25 and older experienced larger declines in both rates regardless of sector.

The Persistence and Retention report series examines first-year persistence and retention rates for first-time college students. This annual report helps institutions understand trends and disparities in this important early success indicator by institutional type, state, credential type, starting enrollment intensity, major, and student demographic characteristics such as age, gender, and race/ethnicity. This year’s report includes a new data dashboard to enable viewers to analyze, visualize, and interact with the longitudinal data, which are also available for download.

About the National Student Clearinghouse^® Research Center™

The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is the research arm of the National Student Clearinghouse. The Research Center collaborates with higher education institutions, states, school districts, high schools, and educational organizations as part of a national effort to better inform education leaders and policymakers. Through accurate longitudinal data outcomes reporting, the Research Center enables better educational policy decisions leading to improved student outcomes. To learn more, visit nscresearchcenter.org.

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National Student Clearinghouse Partners with N2N Services to Provide Real-time Transcript Integration to Customers

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National Student Clearinghouse Partners with N2N Services to Provide Real-time Transcript Integration to Customers

The Partnership Will Simplify Integration Strategies and Allow the National Student Clearinghouse to Expand the Number of Supported Platforms

HERNDON, VA – (JUNE 1, 2023) – N2N Services, Inc., a leading platform provider for integrating higher education systems, announced a strategic partnership with the National Student Clearinghouse today. Through this partnership, the National Student Clearinghouse will open its transcript ordering applications to N2N’s turnkey cloud integration platform, Illuminate, to provide real-time integration options to its higher education customers.

The exciting new partnership between N2N Services and the National Student Clearinghouse will simplify the level of effort for institutions to implement the Clearinghouse’s Transcript Ordering service. After working together for over a year, N2N and the Clearinghouse have built a real-time transcript ordering and delivery solution that enables users of N2N’s Illuminate platform to easily integrate into the Clearinghouse’s Transcript Ordering service, reduce their administrative burden and delight their students with faster processing. N2N and the Clearinghouse are now seeking an exclusive small group of interested institutions, which are already active on the Illuminate platform, to be an early participant in the program to onboard early and influence the future of the integration service.

N2N’s Illuminate enables partners to deliver integration solutions quickly and easily. Through N2N’s platform, higher education customers can connect their ERP systems, including Ellucian™, Peoplesoft®, Workday™, and Jenzabar®, to Clearinghouse Transcript Ordering applications for real-time integration or data syncing. More information on Clearinghouse transcript services can be found at transcriptservices.org.

“The National Student Clearinghouse continues to respond to the needs of our school clients for efficiency and simplicity in implementing advanced solutions. This partnership with N2N will help greatly ease and simplify the implementation of our industry-leading transcript solution,” said Rick Torres, CEO and President of the National Student Clearinghouse.

“N2N is pleased to partner with the National Student Clearinghouse to enable real-time data integration. We’re confident that National Student Clearinghouse’s application integration, enabled by N2N’s platform, will provide the real-time and interactive solutions needed to enhance institutional efficiencies and support comprehensive student success,” explained Kiran Kodithala, CEO and founder of N2N Services Inc. “N2N is committed to collaborations, such as with the National Student Clearinghouse, which have a direct impact on student services and institutional effectiveness.”

Higher education institutions can request to connect with their National Student Clearinghouse rep regarding Clearinghouse transcript services at studentclearinghouse.org/contact.

About the National Student Clearinghouse^®

The National Student Clearinghouse, a nonprofit formed in 1993, is the trusted source for and leading provider of higher education verifications and electronic education record exchanges. Besides working with nearly 3,600 postsecondary institutions, the Clearinghouse also provides thousands of high schools and districts with continuing collegiate enrollment, progression, and completion statistics on their alumni. Education partners throughout the nation trust the National Student Clearinghouse because they know we take our commitment to student privacy very seriously. We focus on serving our customers with high-quality services that they expect from us. The Clearinghouse is scrupulous in its concern for student privacy and compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which protects students’ privacy rights in their education records. For more details, visit studentclearinghouse.org.

About N2N

N2N Services Inc. is a leader in enterprise application and data integration. N2N’s Illuminate platform is a cloud-based SaaS platform providing standards-based, turnkey integration enabling organizations to plug in new SaaS applications in a matter of minutes to meet strategic goals. The Illuminate integration platform is used by more than 200 academic institutions (providing student services to over 1 million students) and enables institutions to meet strategic objectives. N2N Services Inc. is based in Atlanta, GA. Learn more about N2N Services Inc. and the Illuminate platform by visiting https://n2nservices.com/.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

National Student Clearinghouse
Email: media@studentclearinghouse.org

N2N Services, Inc.
Danielle Whitney
E-mail: danielle.whitney@n2nservices.com
Phone: 888-651-3309×23

Trademarks referenced are the property of their respective owners.

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Community College Enrollment Grew This Spring Over One Year Ago, Due to Younger Students

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Community College Enrollment Grew This Spring Over One Year Ago, Due to Younger Students

Total Postsecondary Enrollment Remains Well Below Pre-Pandemic Levels

HERNDON, VA – (MAY 24, 2023) – Community college enrollment grew slightly this spring (up 0.5% or 22,000 students from spring 2022), after large declines in the previous two years, due to a growing number of younger students, according to a new report by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.

A growing number of younger students, primarily dual-enrolled high school students, and freshmen, contributed to the uptick in community college enrollment. Undergraduate enrollment at public and private nonprofit four-year institutions are still declining, but at slower rates (-0.5% and -0.2%, respectively).

After pandemic-driven declines began to level off last fall, overall undergraduate enrollment remained stable for the spring term (-0.2% or -25,000 students). In comparison, graduate-level enrollment is faring more poorly (-2.2% or -68,000 students from spring 2022), eroding pandemic-associated gains. Total postsecondary enrollment remains well below pre-pandemic levels, down about 1.09 million students overall and about 1.16 million undergraduates alone, compared to spring 2020.

“Despite encouraging signs of recovery among younger students at community colleges, overall undergraduate enrollment is still well below pre-pandemic levels, especially among degree-seeking students,” said Doug Shapiro, executive director of the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. “With the pandemic now behind us, a new set of factors appears to be preventing students from returning to campuses. And these new factors are having a stronger effect on students who are seeking bachelor’s degrees than on associate-seekers.”

Freshman enrollment grew 9.2 percent from spring 2022, building on a similar increase reported last year, though it’s important to note that percentage increases in spring freshmen are based on a far smaller scale than in fall. Community colleges accounted for the majority of spring freshmen (53.9%) and had the largest increases of any sector (+12.4%), leading to a spring 2023 community college freshman class 7.0 percent larger than the spring 2020 levels.

Undergraduate-level students are shifting the types of credentials they pursue, with enrollments in bachelor’s degree programs falling more steeply than associate degree programs (-1.4% or -114,000 students versus -0.4% or -15,000 students) and other sub-baccalaureate credentials showing enrollment growth (+4.8% or +104,000 students; see Table 2). Graduate-level enrollment drops are almost entirely due to losses in master’s programs (-57,000 students).

Other highlights include:

Continuing the trend from fall 2022, younger students are driving community college enrollment growth, specifically an 8.0 percent increase in dual-enrolled high school students (+49,000 students under age 18) and a 1.1 percent increase in 18- to 24-year-old enrollment (+24,000; see Table 4).
Over the longer term, the median age of a community college student has dropped by more than a year since 2019 (down 1.2 years from 20.7 to 19.5 for men and 1.3 years from 20.4 to 19.1 for women; see Table 6), with enrollment under age 18 growing by 13.6 percent and each of the two older age groups declining much more steeply (-22.5% for age 18-24; -25.7% for age over 24).
Female enrollment declined by 1.2 percent (-118,000 students), while male enrollment grew slightly (+0.4% or +25,000 students; see Table 7). The latest gender results extend the trend of an improved enrollment outlook for men relative to women, first seen in the second pandemic year (fall 2021), particularly at community colleges where male enrollment increased by 2.7 percent this spring (+45,000 students).
Nearly all states follow the national trend, with slowing declines, stabilization, or growth over last spring. Both multi-state institutions and primarily online institutions, which are not included in individual states, regained the enrollments they lost last year, returning to spring 2021 levels (see Table 8a).
Computer science undergraduate programs at four-year institutions reached their highest growth rate in three years (+11.6% or +62,000 students) in spring 2023. At two-year institutions, computer science enrollments are now above pre-pandemic levels, reversing three years of flat or declining numbers (+9.7% or +20,000 students). Healthcare and education program enrollments continued to fall across two- and four-year institutions alike (see Tables 9 and 10).

The Current Term Enrollment Estimates report series is published every January and May by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. It provides national enrollment estimates by degree level, institutional sector, enrollment intensity, age group, gender, and major field, as well as state-level enrollment estimates. Starting in fall 2020, state-level enrollment data are also shown by institution sector. Enrollment estimates are adjusted for Clearinghouse data coverage rates by institutional sector, state, and year. This differs from the Stay Informed report series which is designed to quantify the effects of COVID-19 by analyzing year-over-year percent change in unadjusted, preliminary data for fixed panels of institutions that reported data in the same month each year across all comparison years. The estimated enrollment numbers presented in the CTEE report may, therefore, differ from the results of the Stay Informed reports due to the methodology and institution coverage.

About the National Student Clearinghouse^® Research Center™

The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is the research arm of the National Student Clearinghouse. The Research Center collaborates with higher education institutions, states, school districts, high schools, and educational organizations as part of a national effort to better inform education leaders and policymakers. Through accurate longitudinal data outcomes reporting, the Research Center enables better educational policy decisions leading to improved student outcomes. To learn more, visit nscresearchcenter.org.

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