There was an expectation that students who had left universities in 2020 and 2021 would eventually return to school in 2022 but that has not been the case. “We’re not seeing a return of what we might call the lost freshmen of fall 2020 and fall 2021,” Doug Shapiro, a researcher at the National Student Clearinghouse told National Public Radio (NPR). “There’s not a lot of evidence in these numbers that they’re not coming back now.” According to NPR, undergraduate college enrollment is still continuing to drop every year but not at the alarming rate it changed during the height of the pandemic
Enrollment at SUNY OW has also decreased but not as significantly as in the past two years. Total student enrollment this fall is 4,252,a drop of 2.9% from 4,376 students in 2021, according to Frank Pizzardi, associate director of admissions. Undergraduate enrollment decreased from 4,018 to 3,891or 3.2%
On the bright side, however, the number of first year undergraduate students increased from 483 to 616 students from 2021 to the current fall semester, an increase of 27.5%, Pizzardi added. Total graduate student enrollment increased by 1% to 361 as new graduate students increased by 23.6%.
OW enrollment in the fall 2020 semester was 5,027 a drop from 5,128 in 2019, a decline of about 2%. This was lower than college and university enrollment nationwide which fell by 651,774 students — a decline of more than 3 percent — from fall 2019 to fall 2020, according to data from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics.
On the bright side, this fall the number of first year undergraduate students increased from 483 to 616 students from 2021, an increase of 27.5%. Graduate student enrollment increased by 1% to 361. In fact, there was an encouraging increase in new graduate students from 131 to 162 an increase of 23.6%.
This fall of 2022, Nassau Community College had a staggering 16,650 students enrolled in courses, accord- ing to the Community College Review. This was a major jump of 27% from last year’s fall enrollment levels of 12,631, provided on the college’s website.
According to preliminary data, U.S. colleges and universities saw a drop of 1.1% of undergraduate stu- dents between the fall of 2021 and 2022. This follows a historic decline that began in the fall of 2020; over two years, more than 1 million fewer stu- dents enrolled in college.
“I certainly wouldn’t call this a recovery,” said Shapiro, whose National Student Clearinghouse, released the preliminary data. “We’re seeing smaller declines. But when you’re in a deep hole, the fact that you’re only digging a tiny bit further is not really good news.”
NPR noted: “The declines in undergrad enrollment were felt across all types of institutions, includ- ing private non-profits, four-year public schools and for-profit colleges. Community colleges saw the smallest declines – only a 0.4% enrollment loss compared to fall 2021 – thanks in part to increased enrollment among high school students who were dual-enrolled and freshmen.” Community colleges were the hardest hit during the pandemic, with enrollment drops in the double digits.
