Oklahoma State University is one of several public research universities reporting a record ... [+]
It’s back to campus time, and there’s great interest in whether college enrollments will bounce back this fall, after a decade of steady decline that’s resulted in a 9% national decrease in undergraduate enrollment, equal to about 1.6 million fewer students.
With concerns about the Covid-19 pandemic easing and institutions ratcheting up their recruitment efforts, college officials are hoping to see a rebound in their numbers, particularly for first-time students. Several institutions - including large research universities, regional institutions, HBCUs, and small liberal arts colleges - have recently reported their preliminary enrollments and are touting some record numbers.
Here’s a quick look.
Both of the public research universities in Oklahoma saw record enrollment of first-time students. Oklahoma State University’s initial numbers show at least 4,668 first-year students enrolled in the class of 2026, an all-time high and an increase of more than 9% over last year’s freshman fall enrollment.
And the University of Oklahoma welcomed more than 4,700 entering students, its largest freshman class in school history.
Arizona State University continues its record growth. It’s expecting a total enrollment of more than 140,000 students, about 4.4% higher than a year ago. ASU projects enrolling over 79,000 students on its campuses, plus more than 61,000 students in its online degree program. First-time students are expected to top 15,000, 6.4% more than last year.
At the University of South Carolina, preliminary figures show 6,596 new freshmen enrolled for the fall 2022 semester, the largest class in its 221-year history and a 6.5% increase over last year.
The University of Kentucky was expecting to enroll more than 6,000 freshmen, making it the school’s largest entering class and creating a crunch for on-campus housing.
The University of Georgia’s class of 2026 is its biggest of all time, with more than 6,200 first-year students starting classes on Aug. 17.
The University of Cincinnati was anticipating a record enrollment of 48,300 students when classes begin on Monday, Aug. 22. That’s an increase of 3% over last year and includes a record freshmen class and an entering class that’s 16% larger than the prior year.
Drury University, a liberal arts college in Springfield, Missouri, admitted 413 freshmen, breaking the old record of 406 set in 2010.
Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas, set its all-time enrollment record with almost 15,000 students, up about 14% once 2019. Its freshmen class is approaching 2,500 students, its largest ever.
Freshmen enrollment records were also reported or expected at the University of Arkansas, North Carolina State University, Coastal Carolina University, George Mason University, Tennessee State University, Elon University, and Alvernia University.
Beyond the raw numbers, almost every one of the institutions above also saw their entering classes set or come close to new records for student diversity, in terms of racial/ethnic identity, first-generation-to-college status or socio-economic background. As examples:
- At the University of Cincinnati, the incoming class features a 32% increase in first-generation students, a 23% increase in Black students and a 21% increase in Latinx students.
- Almost 25% of the University of South Carolina’s freshmen are underrepresented minority students, with African American freshmen increasing by 33% from the prior year and Hispanic freshmen up by 8%.
- About 46% of Arizona State University’s incoming students identify as a minority, the largest number of minority first-year students ever at ASU.
College officials offered several explanations for the increased freshmen numbers. One obvious factor behind the success is that almost every campus is returning to normal campus operations, resuming in-person classes, and promising a greater sense of safety and security following two years of pandemic-related crises and adjustments.
Simply put, college campuses have regained much of their social appeal. Kevin Kropf, Drury’s Vice President for Enrollment Management, Marketing & Communications, put it this way: “We are thankful to regain a sense of normalcy and our students are excited to be on campus with their friends and immersed in the Drury experience.”
Other campus leaders credited the introduction of in-demand academic programs and the construction of new state-of-the-art facilities for their strong numbers. University of South Carolina (USC) President Michael Amiridis cited his school’s affordability; USC has maintained the same tuition rate for four consecutive years.
It’s much too early to know if these freshmen enrollment numbers are exceptions or a harbinger of an overall national increase in entering students. Are more high-school graduates deciding to attend college? Will community colleges, the sector recently hit the hardest by enrollment losses, see a recovery? Will graduate student enrollment, one of the few bright spots in the past two years, be maintained? What will happen with international students? Those are some of the key questions to be answered. We’ll know more in about a month.
