At 7.9 million, total postsecondary enrollment in fall 2024 marks three consecutive years of growth and officially tops figures posted in 2019, according to a new report by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
The Current Term Enrollment Estimates report found fall enrollment grew by 4.5%, particularly due to increases at the undergraduate level across all sectors and regions of the United States. Two-year colleges posted a 5.8% increase, and those with high vocational programs grew by 13.6%, marking two consecutive years of double-digit growth. Additionally, four-year public and private nonprofits quadrupled their rate of enrollment growth over the previous year.
The Northeast experienced its first positive rate of enrollment post-pandemic, equaling growth in the South (4.7%).
Also contributing to the uptick is the 5.5% rise in first-year enrollment, reversing preliminary findings that the Clearinghouse recently admitted were wrong. Doug Shapiro, the executive director of the organization, said that “the growth is driven by older first-year students, as 18-year-olds are still below their 2019 numbers.” In fact, the rates of growth in first-year students aged 21-24 and 25 or older are 16.7% and 19.7%, respectively.
First-year students hailing from the bottom quintile of neighborhood income experienced the highest rate of enrollment in highly selective four-year institutions at 28.4%. However, Shapiro noted during a press briefing that understanding the demographic data of first-year students has become increasingly difficult: 58.5% of all institutional data shows “missing” or “unknown” for students’ race or ethnicity.
Nevertheless, Hispanic, Black, Asian and Native American first-year students show three consecutive years of growth across all institutions, and white students logged their first year of enrollment growth (0.9%) this decade.
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Undergraduate certificate programs continue to gain traction, growing four years in a row and up 9.9% over fall 2023. Its enrollment is now 29% above 2019 levels while bachelor’s and associate degree programs remain below. Its growth was particularly sizable at private for-profit institutions at 24%, but certificates grew in every other as well:
- Public four-year: 10.4%
- Private non-profit: 10.2%
- Public two-year: 9.2%
