Undergraduate Enrollment Trends at Small Colleges and Universities

Every year, EAB experts wait with bated breath for data releases from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. They race to dive into the trends and changes from year-to-year, comparing enrollment shifts across student population, institution-type, and geographic location.

In this on-demand webinar, expert Vashae Dixon discusses how these changes in enrollment are impacting small colleges and universities including:

• Size has become a bigger predictor of growth. First-time enrollments surged across most institutions with more than 10k total enrollments from 2019 to 2023. By contrast, institutions with fewer than 10k total enrollments, especially smaller less selective publics, saw first-time enrollments decline from 2019 to 2023.
• Enrollments of older undergraduates are surging—but only at private institutions and community colleges. Across all public 4-year institutions, the ranks of undergraduates older than 20 shrank between fall 2021 and fall 2024. By contrast, this population grew at private non-profits, private for-profits, and 2-year institutions.
• Freshmen enrollment grew the most rapidly among students from the poorest neighborhoods. Between fall 2023 and fall 2024, the number of freshmen enrolling from the bottom 20% of neighborhoods by average income increased by more than 7%, faster than any other income quartile across public 4-years, private, non-profit 4-years, and public 2-years.

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