College enrollments are rebounding after the pandemic
The number of students enrolled in undergraduate colleges across the country is ticking up after years of pandemic-related declines.
Undergraduate enrollment increased by about 176,000 students in fall 2023, according to a report published Wednesday by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. That’s a spike of about 1.2% from the previous fall, which saw roughly 20,000 fewer students enrolling nationwide.
About 15.2 million undergraduate students enrolled in college for the 2023-2024 academic year. While that’s an increase, the number still hasn’t returned to pre-pandemic levels, which hovered over 16 million.
The biggest growth came at community colleges, which gained 118,000 students this fall. Private, for-profit colleges, where enrollments increased by about 20,000, also saw more students.
National Student Clearinghouse released preliminary data on this year's college enrollment trends in October. It was the first indication that undergraduate enrollment was starting to modestly rebound after the pandemic forced many students to rethink their college plans.
For-profit enrollments up as Biden aims to tighten oversight
Unlike public undergraduate schools, one sector of higher education that emerged from the pandemic relatively unscathed was for-profit colleges.
The number of enrolled undergraduate students in those programs has jumped by about 70,000 since fall 2019. This fall, for-profit schools took in roughly 617,000 undergraduate students and about a quarter of a million graduate students, according to Tuesday’s data.
While that’s just a fraction of all college students, many graduates of for-profit schools have grown to doubt the value of their degrees, as new research calls into question the effectiveness of online-only programs.
The growth comes as the Biden administration considers tightening regulations more broadly on institutions of higher education. The Education Department wrapped up a week of policy negotiations on the subject earlier this month. Those talks were largely aimed at increasing oversight of for-profit colleges, online schools and college accreditors.
Zachary Schermele is a breaking news and education reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at [email protected]. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: College enrollments tick up after pandemic lows