Dive Summary:
- According to the first of what the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center says will be twice-yearly snapshots of up-to-date enrollment statistics, college enrollments fell 1.8% in fall 2012, largely driven by declines of 7.2% and 3.1% in for-profit and community colleges respectively.
- The data, released Tuesday, and also showed a decline of .6% in four-year public college and university enrollment and an increase of 0.5% at four-year private nonprofit colleges.
- The declines weren't a surprise, as enrollment rates tend to rise and fall with the unemployment rate, but they could still cause real difficulties for tuition-dependent colleges and universities that have seen other funding sources dry up in recent years.
From the article:
Memo to college presidents: Your admissions directors weren't making excuses when they told you they were struggling to fill their classes this fall. Data released by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center on Tuesday -- in the first of what the center says will be twice-a-year snapshots of up-to-date enrollment statistics -- show that college enrollments declined by 1.8 percent in fall 2012, driven by larger drops for for-profit colleges (-7.2 percent) and community colleges (-3.1 percent). Enrollment fell by 0.6 percent at four-year public colleges and universities, and rose by half a percentage point at four-year private nonprofit colleges, as seen in the figure below. ...