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CURRENT Term Enrollment ESTIMATES SPRING 2021 Overview: Spring 2021 Enrollment Estimates Overall postsecondary enrollment dropped by 3.5 percent, or 603,000 students, in spring 2021. This one-year decline is seven times larger than the rate of decline reported in spring 2020 (-0.5%; see Figure 1 for historical Current Term Enrollment Estimates Report Series enrollment trends). Undergraduate students accounted for all of the decline, dropping 4.9 percent, or over is published every December and May by the 727,000 students, from spring 2020. In contrast, graduate enrollment jumped by 4.6 percent or more than National Student Clearinghouse Research 124,000 students over the same period (see Table 2). Center. It provides national enrollment estimates by degree level, institutional sector, enrollment intensity, age group, gender, major While declines in undergraduate enrollment are evident across all institutional sectors, community colleges field as well as state-level enrollment estimates. remain hardest hit this spring (-9.5%, 476,000 fewer students). Notably, enrollment declines at community Starting in fall 2020, state-level enrollment data colleges are driven by associate degree-seeking students (-10.9%), while undergraduate certificate enrollment are also shown by institution sector. tracked the overall undergraduate drop (-4.8%). Graduate enrollment grew across all institution sectors, with the largest increase recorded at public four-year institutions (+5.6%, or 74,000 more students). Public Enrollment estimates are adjusted for college enrollment (two-year and four-year combined), which enrolls 7 out of 10 postsecondary students in Clearinghouse data coverage rates by undergraduate and graduate programs, declined by 4.2 percent or over 521,000 students this spring institutional sector, state, and year. As (see Table 2). of fall 2019, postsecondary institutions actively submitting enrollment data to the Full-time enrollment declined in every institutional sector, while part-time enrollment declined only at for-profit Clearinghouse account for 97 percent of the four-year and public two-year institutions. Part-time students increased at public and private nonprofit four-year total enrollments at Title IV, degree-granting institutions (+3.7% and +2.8%, respectively; see Table 3). institutions in the U.S. Most institutions submit enrollment data several times per term, Traditional college-age students, age 18 to 24, saw the largest decline across all age groups (-5% or 524,000 resulting in highly current data. Moreover, since fewer students), largely attributable to their steep losses at community colleges (-13.2% or 365,000 fewer the Clearinghouse collects data at the student students). Adult students aged 25 or older fell at less than half the rate of the younger group at community level, it is possible to report an unduplicated colleges (-6.1%), and experienced gains at public four-year and private nonprofit four-year institutions (+2.7% student headcount, which avoids double- and +2.3%, respectively; see Table 4). The drop in traditional college-age enrollment at community colleges has counting students who are simultaneously resulted in a 3.5 month increase in the average age of full-time students in the sector, which had been declining enrolled at multiple institutions. for three straight years (see Table 5). Enrollment declines are steeper for men than for women across all sectors (declined by 400,000 and 203,000 students, respectively). This trend is especially visible in the community college sector, with male enrollment dropping by 14.4 percent compared to a 6 percent decline in female enrollment. Also, the increase of 44,000 female students (+1%) is contrasted with a drop of 90,000 male students (-2.7%) in the public four-year institution sector (see Table 7). nscresearchcenter.org 1 CURRENT Term Enrollment ESTIMATES SPRING 2021 Overview: Spring 2021 Enrollment Estimates Postsecondary enrollment declined in all but seven states (Idaho, Maryland, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Difference from the COVID-19 Stay Informed Utah, Virginia, West Virginia). Newly added this year, state-level spring enrollments are broken out by report series: institution sector (see Tables 8a and 8b). As with the previous reports, the Spring 2021 Business, Healthcare, and Liberal Arts continue to be the most common undergraduate majors for CTEE provides estimated postsecondary both four-year and two-year college students (see Tables 9 and 10). In terms of the year-over-year enrollment numbers based on the percent change, Computer Sciences and Psychology showed the largest enrollment growth at four-year Clearinghouse universe of institutions, after colleges (+3% and +4.8%, respectively). Among two-year college major fields with over 100,000 students, accounting for data coverage rates. This differs enrollment fell most precipitously in Visual & Performing Arts (-18.1%), Security & Protective Services from the Stay Informed report series that is (-16.7%), Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies (-14.1%), and Liberal Arts & General Studies (-13.8%). Psychology designed to quantify the immediate effects and Legal Professions were the only growing fields for two-year college students this spring (+0.8% and of COVID-19 by analyzing year-over-year +4.8%, respectively). percentage change in unadjusted, preliminary data for fixed panels of institutions that reported data the same time each year across comparison years. The estimated percent change in enrollment presented in the CTEE report may differ from the results of the Stay Informed reports due to the difference in methodology and institution coverage. nscresearchcenter.org 2 CURRENT Term Enrollment ESTIMATES SPRING 2021 Figure 1. Percent Change in Enrollment from Previous Year by Institutional Sector: 2017 to 2021 nscresearchcenter.org 3 CURRENT Term Enrollment ESTIMATES SPRING 2021 Table 1. Estimated National Enrollment by Institutional Sector: 2019 to 2021 Spring 2021 Spring 2020 Spring 2019 % Change from % Change from % Change from Sector Enrollment Enrollment Enrollment Previous Year Previous Year Previous Year Total Enrollment (All Sectors) 16,855,301 -3.5% 17,458,306 -0.5% 17,542,109 -1.7% Public 4-year 7,505,850 -0.6% 7,551,244 -0.6% 7,598,237 -0.9% Private nonprofit 4-year 3,747,921 -0.8% 3,776,462 -0.7% 3,803,576 3.2% Private for-profit 4-year 718,557 -1.5% 729,364 -1.9% 743,536 -19.7% Public 2-year 4,521,046 -9.5% 4,997,043 -2.3% 5,114,013 -3.4% Unduplicated Student Headcount 16,586,893 -3.5% 17,185,751 -0.4% 17,260,333 -1.4% (All Sectors) UNDERSTANDING THE NUMBERS Table 1 provides counts of spring term enrollments submitted to the Clearinghouse by mid-April of each year. Enrollments represent one student in one institution and thus would count twice a student enrolled simultaneously at two institutions (concurrent enrollment). The unduplicated headcount provides the number of unique students with no double-counting. This figure can be used to determine the percentage of concurrent enrollments in any given year. In each term, fewer than 2 percent of total enrollments can be accounted for by students enrolling in more than one institution. Institutional classifications for the current term are based on the most recently available IPEDS institutional characteristics at the time of publication. Less-than-two-year institutions have been aggregated with two-year institutions. Private non-profit two-year and for-profit two-year enrollments are not shown in the table due to small counts, but enrollments from these sectors are included in the overall totals. Additional notes on data and coverage are included at the end of this report. nscresearchcenter.org 4 CURRENT Term Enrollment ESTIMATES SPRING 2021 Table 2. Estimated National Enrollment by Institutional Sector and Program Level: 2019 to 2021 Spring 2021 Spring 2020 Spring 2019 Sector Program Level % Change from % Change from % Change from Enrollment Enrollment Enrollment Previous Year Previous Year Previous Year Undergraduate (All) 14,005,856 -4.9% 14,732,976 -0.5% 14,813,493 -2.3% Associate Degree-Seeking 4,235,492 -10.6% 4,738,695 -2.0% 4,833,949 -2.4% All Sectors Bachelor’s Degree-Seeking 7,912,210 -2.5% 8,118,936 -0.5% 8,161,576 -1.7% Other Undergraduate 1,858,154 -0.9% 1,875,345 3.2% 1,817,967 -4.5% Graduate/Professional 2,849,445 4.6% 2,725,330 -0.1% 2,728,616 2.0% Undergraduate (All) 6,114,270 -1.9% 6,233,670 -1.0% 6,295,474 -1.4% Associate Degree-Seeking 515,895 -4.3% 539,164 -4.9% 566,874 -5.6% Public 4-year Bachelor’s Degree-Seeking 5,191,018 -2.0% 5,295,307 -0.9% 5,343,320 -0.8% Other Undergraduate 407,356 2.0% 399,199 3.6% 385,280 -2.7% Graduate/Professional 1,391,580 5.6% 1,317,574 1.1% 1,302,763 1.7% Undergraduate (All) 2,525,480 -2.8% 2,598,786 -0.6% 2,615,726 2.0% Associate Degree-Seeking 95,461 -3.8% 99,216 -4.4% 103,737 -3.6% Private nonprofit Bachelor’s Degree-Seeking 2,311,147 -2.7% 2,374,246 -0.6% 2,388,347 2.5% 4-year Other Undergraduate 118,872 -5.1% 125,324 1.4% 123,642 -2.8% Graduate/Professional 1,222,441 3.8% 1,177,676 -0.9% 1,187,850 5.8% Undergraduate (All) 514,008 -2.7% 528,172 -1.8% 538,003 -17.6% Associate Degree-Seeking 90,677 -4.6% 95,087 -3.1% 98,097 -8.8% Private for-profit Bachelor’s Degree-Seeking 359,214 -6.8% 385,486 -2.3% 394,707 -20.0% 4-year Other Undergraduate 64,117 34.7% 47,599 5.3% 45,199 -12.8% Graduate/Professional 204,549 1.7% 201,192 -2.1% 205,533 -24.6% Undergraduate (All) 4,521,046 -9.5% 4,997,043 -2.3% 5,114,013 -3.4% Public 2-year Associate Degree-Seeking 3,441,890 -10.9% 3,862,965 -2.7% 3,969,188 -2.0% Other Undergraduate 1,079,156 -4.8% 1,134,078 -0.9% 1,144,825 -7.8% nscresearchcenter.org 5 CURRENT Term Enrollment ESTIMATES SPRING 2021 UNDERSTANDING THE NUMBERS Table 2 provides enrollment counts by program level. The other undergraduate category includes undergraduate certificate/diploma, teacher preparation and special non-credential programs that have been classified by institutions as undergraduate programs, as well as enrollments that are not part of any structured program. The graduate/professional category includes post-baccalaureate certificate, master’s degree, doctoral degree, first-professional degree, graduate/professional certificate, and special non-credential programs that have been specifically classified by institutions as graduate-level programs. nscresearchcenter.org 6 CURRENT Term Enrollment ESTIMATES SPRING 2021 Table 3. Estimated National Enrollment by Institutional Sector and Enrollment Intensity: 2019 to 2021 Spring 2021 Spring 2020 Spring 2019 Enrollment % Change from % Change from % Change from Sector Enrollment Enrollment Enrollment Intensity Previous Year Previous Year Previous Year Full-Time 10,586,032 -3.5% 10,969,338 0.4% 10,929,767 -1.0% All Sectors Part-Time 6,269,269 -3.4% 6,488,968 -1.9% 6,612,342 -2.7% Full-Time 5,368,762 -2.2% 5,490,661 -0.1% 5,496,209 -0.7% Public 4-year Part-Time 2,137,088 3.7% 2,060,583 -2.0% 2,102,028 -1.3% Private nonprofit Full-Time 2,891,253 -1.8% 2,942,777 -0.2% 2,947,262 4.1% 4-year Part-Time 856,667 2.8% 833,685 -2.6% 856,314 0.1% Private for-profit Full-Time 438,843 -1.5% 445,751 -2.6% 457,549 -21.8% 4-year Part-Time 279,714 -1.4% 283,612 -0.8% 285,987 -16.0% Full-Time 1,575,887 -11.4% 1,779,427 -1.8% 1,812,815 -4.7% Public 2-year Part-Time 2,945,159 -8.5% 3,217,616 -2.5% 3,301,198 -2.6% UNDERSTANDING THE NUMBERS Table 3 provides enrollment counts by the enrollment intensity of the student. The part-time category includes enrollments reported to the Clearinghouse as three- quarter time, half-time, and less-than-half-time. Enrollment intensity is defined by the institution and based on the earliest data submitted for a student in any given term. As a result, the intensity generally reflects the student’s intended workload at the beginning of the term. Less-than-two-year institutions have been aggregated with two- year institutions. Private nonprofit two-year and for-profit two-year enrollments are not shown in the table due to small counts, but enrollments from these sectors are included in the overall totals. nscresearchcenter.org 7 CURRENT Term Enrollment ESTIMATES SPRING 2021 Table 4. Estimated National Enrollment by Institutional Sector and Age Group: 2019 to 2021 Spring 2021 Spring 2020 Spring 2019 % Change from % Change from % Change from Sector Age Group Enrollment Enrollment Enrollment Previous Year Previous Year Previous Year Under 18 718,460 -0.6% 722,843 6.9% 676,106 1.6% All Sectors 18 to 24 9,991,267 -5.0% 10,515,363 -0.4% 10,559,386 2.4% Over 24 6,145,574 -1.2% 6,220,100 -1.4% 6,306,617 -0.8% Under 18 179,389 2.7% 174,741 2.2% 170,982 1.0% Public 4-year 18 to 24 5,140,809 -2.0% 5,247,834 -0.3% 5,264,564 -0.8% Over 24 2,185,652 2.7% 2,128,668 -1.6% 2,162,691 -1.3% Under 18 30,340 -6.4% 32,423 4.2% 31,110 1.6% Private nonprofit 18 to 24 2,140,052 -2.8% 2,202,483 -0.4% 2,210,599 1.3% 4-year Over 24 1,577,529 2.3% 1,541,556 -1.3% 1,561,866 5.9% Under 18 1,243 12.9% 1,101 -5.3% 1,163 -0.9% Private for-profit 18 to 24 135,294 0.8% 134,264 2.2% 131,385 -19.1% 4-year Over 24 582,020 -2.0% 593,999 -2.8% 610,988 -19.8% Under 18 504,446 -1.2% 510,389 8.7% 469,549 3.8% Public 2-year 18 to 24 2,392,844 -13.2% 2,758,183 -2.5% 2,828,066 -4.1% Over 24 1,623,756 -6.1% 1,728,470 -4.8% 1,816,398 -4.0% UNDERSTANDING THE NUMBERS Table 4 includes all spring enrollments reported to the Clearinghouse, including students enrolled in non-credential programs. Student age is calculated as of the first day of the term (a date specific to the institution). Less-than-two-year institutions have been aggregated with two-year institutions. Private nonprofit two-year and for-profit two-year enrollments are not shown in the table due to small counts (approximately 2% of total enrollments), but enrollments from these sectors are included in the overall totals. Additional notes on data and coverage are included at the end of this report. nscresearchcenter.org 8 CURRENT Term Enrollment ESTIMATES SPRING 2021 Table 5. Average Age of Students by Program Level, Institutional Sector, and Enrollment Intensity: 2017 to 2021 Average Age (Years) Spring 2021 Spring 2020 Spring 2019 Spring 2018 Spring 2017 Program Level Sector Full-Time Part-Time Full-Time Part-Time Full-Time Part-Time Full-Time Part-Time Full-Time Part-Time All Sectors 22.84 27.51 22.70 27.67 22.75 27.83 22.86 28.06 22.99 28.20 Public 4-year 21.83 27.19 21.76 27.44 21.79 27.52 21.86 27.64 21.94 27.83 Undergraduate Private nonprofit 4-year 22.99 31.43 22.86 31.57 22.87 31.69 22.66 31.93 22.73 32.04 (All) Private for-profit 4-year 32.66 33.80 32.54 34.12 32.54 34.22 32.75 34.17 32.83 34.18 Public 2-year 23.65 26.64 23.36 26.85 23.49 27.08 23.66 27.32 23.79 27.43 All Sectors 30.57 35.30 30.54 35.38 30.52 35.34 30.52 35.34 30.54 35.33 Graduate/ Public 4-year 29.07 34.41 29.00 34.50 28.95 34.48 28.87 34.44 28.87 34.47 Professional Private nonprofit 4-year 30.92 35.85 30.90 35.83 30.88 35.74 30.44 35.64 30.38 35.62 Private for-profit 4-year 38.55 39.91 38.70 39.98 38.79 39.90 38.81 39.89 39.11 39.68 UNDERSTANDING THE NUMBERS Table 5 provides the average age of students by program level, sector, and enrollment intensity. Dual enrollees (students under age 18) are included. A student’s age is determined as of the first day of his or her enrollment in the current term. The first date of enrollment can vary depending on the academic term used by the institution. The part-time category includes enrollments reported to the Clearinghouse as three-quarter time, half-time, and less-than-half-time. Enrollment intensity is defined by the institution and based on the earliest data submitted for a student in any given term. nscresearchcenter.org 9 CURRENT Term Enrollment ESTIMATES SPRING 2021 Table 6. Median and Average Ages of Students by Program Level, Institutional Sector and Gender: 2021 Spring 2021 Men Women Program Level Sector Median Average Median Average (yrs.) (yrs.) (yrs.) (yrs.) All Sectors 21.4 24.2 21.5 25.1 Public 4-year 21.3 23.1 21.1 23.4 Undergraduate Private nonprofit 4-year 21.4 24.2 21.4 25.0 (All) Private for-profit 4-year 31.4 32.9 31.4 33.3 Public 2-year 21.3 25.0 22.4 26.1 All Sectors 29.2 32.1 29.1 32.5 Graduate/ Public 4-year 28.6 31.2 28.2 31.4 Professional Private nonprofit 4-year 29.3 32.4 29.1 32.6 Private for-profit 4-year 38.0 39.5 37.5 38.9 UNDERSTANDING THE NUMBERS Table 6 provides the median and average ages of students by program level, sector, and gender. Dual enrollees (students under age 18) are included. The average age of students has barely changed since spring 2020 (not shown here). A student’s age is determined as of the first day of his or her enrollment in the current term. The first date of enrollment can vary depending on the academic term used by the institution. Additweqrwn data, coverage, and imputation of gender are included at the end of the report. nscresearchcenter.org 10