A new report by the Arizona Board of Regents shows total enrollment at the state’s three public universities has grown despite the pandemic, but some areas did see declines.
About 200,000 students are enrolled in Arizona’s public universities this fall semester. That’s a 4.5% year-over-year increase from fall 2019 and it’s the largest enrollment in the universities’ history, according to the report.
“Online enrollment is the reason for this growth," said ABOR Vice President of Academic Affairs and Instructional Analysis Chad Sampson, who presented the report during a Thursday committee meeting. "If you look at the online enrollment, specifically (Arizona State University) online enrollment, it is where the growth is happening.”
Nearly 40% of ASU students are enrolled in its online programs, according to the report.
ASU anticipates online enrollment will continue to grow, said University Provost Mark Searle. This trend speaks to a "demand for higher education that is more convenient to people in their lives and an older population that did not get a chance to complete their education," he said.
But the report did include some bad news. The universities saw a year-over-year decline of 3.6% in first-time student enrollment from last year. On-campus undergraduate enrollment is also down at all three institutions.
"There are several reasons for the slower on-campus enrollment growth, including Arizona’s demographic shift and the global COVID-19 pandemic." the report said. "Future undergraduate enrollment increases may become progressively more difficult as a result of declining Arizona birth rates during the Great Recession. Total K-12 enrollment is projected to be flat for the next few years and then begin to decline."
The National Student Clearinghouse Research Centerestimates that undergraduate student enrollments across the country is running 4% below last year's level. Overall postsecondary enrollment is down 3% as of Sept. 24 and most strikingly, first-time student enrollment declined by 16.1% nationwide and 22.7% at community college, according to the center.
