College Enrollment Falls In New York; Elsewhere In U.S.

Nearly 300,000 fewer U.S. students enrolled in college in the Spring 2019 term compared to the previous year, according to new data published Thursday. The information from the National Student Clearinghouse Research found that in New York, 16,408 fewer students enrolled in college for the current term when compared to 2018.

Overall, the Clearinghouse data says that “postsecondary enrollments,” which includes four-year public, private nonprofit, for-profit and two-year public institutions, declined 1.7 percent when compared to the previous spring. The data also includes enrollment rates for two-year for-profits and private nonprofit institutions.

In New York, the decline in enrollment was down 1.6 percent in the Spring 2019 school year, which was a smaller decrease than the national decline.

According to the report, graduate enrollment actually increased two percent while undergraduate enrollment fell 2.3 percent.

Enrollment fell 3.4 percent at two-year public schools and 0.9 percent at four-year public schools. Florida and Illinois had the most number of declining enrollments in the country, according to the Clearinghouse report.

Clearinghouse says that the enrollment data it receives accounts for 97 percent of all enrollments at Title IV, degree-granting institutions. The center publishes enrollment data every December and May.

For the Fall 2018 term, enrollments also decreased by 1.7 percent when compared to the previous year.

You can read the full Clearinghouse report here.