A new report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center reveals a rebound in U.S. college and university enrollment, exceeding pre-pandemic (fall 2019) levels. Total enrollment increased by 4.5% in fall 2024, with undergraduate enrollment reaching nearly 16 million and graduate enrollment climbing to 3.2 million.
This positive news follows a correction to the Clearinghouse's preliminary report, which initially reported a 5% drop in first-year student enrollment due to a methodological error. The error misclassified some college freshmen as dual-enrolled high school students. The Clearinghouse, a trusted source for enrollment data due to its collection of information from 97% of U.S. degree-granting institutions, attributed the delay in identifying the error to various factors, including FAFSA issues and economic changes, which made interpreting the initial data more challenging.
The corrected data shows a 5.5% increase in freshman enrollment, driven by students over 21. Enrollment of 18-year-olds also increased (3.4%) but remains below pre-pandemic levels. Notably, traditional-age freshmen from low-income neighborhoods showed the highest growth rates, particularly at community colleges.
Community colleges, which experienced significant enrollment declines during the pandemic, are now showing strong gains, although they haven't fully recovered to pre-pandemic numbers. Institutions with a focus on vocational education saw double-digit growth for the second consecutive year. Certificate program enrollments are now 28.5% higher than in 2019. Bachelor's and associate's degree program enrollments also increased (2.9% and 6.3%, respectively) but remain below 2019 levels. All regions experienced enrollment growth, with the Northeast seeing its first increase since before the pandemic.