College freshman enrollment is down nationwide. Here’s where Western Pa. schools stand.

Maddie Aiken / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Freshman enrollment is down 5% at colleges nationally this fall compared to fall 2023 — the first nationwide downturn in first-year students since the COVID-ridden fall 2020 semester, according to preliminary data shared by National Student Clearinghouse Research Center on Wednesday.

Declines are more pronounced at public institutions, which saw their first-year student populations fall 8.5% in a year, and private nonprofit institutions, which experienced a 6.5% drop. Community colleges, meanwhile, only saw a 0.4% decline in first-year students — lessening the national average drop.

A nearly 6% drop in 18-year-old freshmen accounts for a large portion of these declines, according to NSC. That figure indicates that fewer high school seniors opted to attend college after high school graduation.

Nationwide drops in freshmen come after last year’s shaky launch of a revamped federal aid form that complicated the college admissions process for many prospective students. Experts had expressed concern that FAFSA troubles — coupled with regional declines in college-aged people and diminishing trust in higher education — could impact fall 2024 freshman enrollments.

NSC’s 2024 report isn’t all bleak, though. Nationwide, overall undergraduate enrollment is up by 3% — meaning growth is being driven by boosts in non–freshman students and dual enrollment, which allows high school students to be enrolled in both high school and college courses. In Pennsylvania, undergraduate enrollment is up 0.4%.

And across the country, associate degree programs saw a more than 4% increase in enrollment in fall 2024, while bachelor’s and graduate degree programs each enrolled roughly 2% more students, according to NSC. Enrollment in undergraduate certificate programs surged more than 7%.

“It is startling to see such a substantial drop in freshmen, the first decline since the start of the pandemic in 2020 when they plunged nearly 10%,” NSC Executive Director Doug Shapiro said in a news release. “But the gains among students either continuing from last year or returning from prior stop outs are keeping overall undergraduate numbers growing, especially at community colleges, and that’s at least some good news for students and schools alike.”

In Western Pennsylvania, some schools have reported drops in freshmen this year, while others have seen growth.

Of the state system universities, Slippery Rock’s first-year enrollment increased slightly — by 0.7% — while Pennsylvania Western University and the Indiana University of Pennsylvania both saw freshman declines.

Slippery Rock enrolls 1,547 freshmen this fall, up 12 students from last fall.

Meanwhile, PennWest saw a roughly 5% drop in first-year students between fall 2023 and fall 2024, from 1,617 students to 1,529.

And IUP saw a 14% drop in first-time students from fall 2023 to fall 2024 — though it’s worth noting that the university’s freshman population spiked by 16% from fall 2022 to fall 2023. The state school enrolled 1,761 first-time students in fall 2022, 2,025 in fall 2023 and 1,742 this fall.

Across Pennsylvania’s 10 state-owned universities, freshman enrollment is down 5% — “significantly better” than the -8.5% national average, said state system spokesman Kevin Hensil.  

“We’re pleased that our new student enrollment outperformed that national average for public four-year institutions,” Mr. Hensil said in a statement. “It’s another reminder that affordability and value are incredibly important to students, and [the state system’s] decision to keep tuition frozen for seven years is helping students to enroll and stay on track to graduate.”

Meanwhile, of regional private schools, Duquesne University officials told the Post-Gazette in August that they projected a 1-2% dip in freshmen this fall.

Point Park University’s new student enrollment is up about 10% this fall, and Carnegie Mellon University reported 1,807 new, full-time students on campus this fall compared to 1,708 first-time, first-year undergraduate students last fall.

The University of Pittsburgh has reported that undergraduate enrollment at the Oakland campus is up about 1% this fall, from 20,220 students in fall 2023 to 20,418 in fall 2024.

Pitt has yet to share its freshman enrollment data for this fall, though the university did report a record number of freshman applications for fall 2024.