Rising college tuition costs, the COVID-19 pandemic, and a bungled FASFA rollout have impacted the financial circumstances of many prospective college students. After several years of declining enrollment, the numbers spiked up about 1.2% in the 2023-2024 academic year, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center reported. Enrollment numbers remained below pre-pandemic levels of 16 million.
While it’s too early to track the impact tuition costs will have on enrollment numbers for the upcoming semester, some students have already said they’re opting out of college due to the financial aid fiasco.
USA TODAY identified undergraduate enrollment trends from the past decade to see who is attending college, the most common fields of study and how the pandemic impacted enrollment.
