College Enrollment Plunges

It’s not just NFL attendance that’s plummeting. “Nearly two-thirds of colleges missed enrollment targets,” Brian Mitchell writes on the academe blog maintained by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). “The most startling finding is that ‘only 34 percent of colleges met new student enrollment targets this year by May 1, the traditional date by which most institutions hope to have a class set.’”

“This number is down from 37 percent a year ago and 42 percent two years ago. At the public doctoral institutions, the story was a bit more rosy, but even there only 59 percent of the institutions met their May 1 enrollment target. Only 22 percent of public/bachelor’s/master’s institutions, 27 percent of community colleges, and 36 percent of private colleges and universities met their May enrollment targets.”

“This is a growing issue since most colleges and universities are heavily dependent on tuition revenue; hence, the size of the incoming and returning classes directly impacts their financial bottom line.”