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New data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center provide a final tally on enrollment for the spring of 2022 — and reveal a persistent trend: College attendance continues to decline.Undergraduate enrollment fell 4.7 percent from a year earlier, a shortfall of more than 662,000 students. Since the pandemic began, the undergraduate student body has dropped by almost 1.4 million students.
The worsening enrollment picture was unexpected, said Doug Shapiro, executive director of the research center, said during a conference call to the media. “I thought we would start to see some of these declines begin to shrink a little bit this term,” he said, “particularly because I think there’s a general sense that we should be coming out of the effects of the pandemic at this point.”
But also in play, he said, are students who increasingly question the value of college, are wary about taking out student loans to pay for it, and who have options to join the labor market instead.
Graduate and professional students — who had been a bright spot in enrollments throughout the first year of the pandemic— also saw a 1 percent decline in enrollment in the spring of 2022, from a year earlier.
Shapiro, noted small gains in first-year, first-time students.
Terry W. Hartle, senior vice president of the American Council on Education, urged caution in interpreting the data.
“The numbers are disappointing and troubling, but I am reluctant to read any major implications into enrollment changes in one spring semester during a pandemic,” Hartle said.
“One of the things we are clearly seeing is that well-known institutions, flagship public colleges, have more applicants than they’ve ever had before at the same time that regional state colleges are often struggling,” Hartle said.
Overall Black freshman enrollment declined by 6.5 percent, nationally, or 2,600 students. In total, there were 8,400 fewer Black freshmen than in 2020.
Shapiro said the numbers were discouraging, steeper than what the organization reported for the fall term.
“I thought we would start to see some of the declines begin to shrink a bit this term,” he said. “I am surprised that it seems to be getting worse.”
Specific spring enrollment numbers for FAMU were not available as the Office of Institutional Research has not updated its website to show the enrollment figures beyond Fall 2021.