Report: Vocational programs boosted spring college enrollment, but headcount short of pre-pandemic

Surging interest in community college vocational programs drove up spring enrollment in higher education for the second straight semester, but a report shows headcount remained short of pre-pandemic numbers.

The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center reported Wednesday that enrollment across all higher education sectors increased by 2.6% from spring 2023 to this spring. The number had declined by 0.5% from spring 2022 to 2023, then shot up 2% from fall 2022 to fall 2023, the first annual increase since before the pandemic.

Nevertheless, the nonprofit research center said spring enrollment remained “well below” the pre-COVID tally, with 4.2%, or 800,000, fewer students overall than when public health restrictions shuttered campuses in spring 2020. That includes a 12.4% shortfall for community colleges.

The “surprisingly good” rebound doesn't mean colleges will reverse years of enrollment declines among traditional four-year students, said Doug Shapiro, the clearinghouse’s executive director.

He pointed out that the sharpest college enrollment growth in the spring occurred among nontraditional older or part-time students, dual-enrolled high school students earning college credit and students seeking vocational-technical certificates or associate degrees.

“As we saw in the fall and last year, the increases at community colleges have been much stronger for schools that are highly focused on vocational programs,” Mr. Shapiro said. “That’s similar to what we see in the growth of certificate programs as opposed to associate degree programs.”

He noted that enrollment at community colleges with a high focus on vocational training shot up by 17.5% this spring, three times the rate of increase in those programs as a year ago.

Over the same period, headcount at community colleges focused on upward transfers into four-year bachelor's degree programs grew by 3.5%.

By comparison, enrollment among certificate seekers increased by 3.3%.

Despite accounting for only a quarter of all postsecondary enrollment, the clearinghouse noted that community colleges “drove almost half of this spring’s enrollment growth" as they added 200,000, or 4.7%, more students over spring 2023.

At four-year institutions, the clearinghouse found bachelor's degree enrollments rose 2.3% in spring 2024 after falling 1.1% from 2022 to 2023.

Mr. Shapiro noted that dual enrollment of high school students up to age 17 at all colleges rose by 10%, “quite a bit higher” than the 2.9% enrollment bump among traditional-age students 18 to 20. That accounted for 28.1% of undergraduate enrollment increases.

The report also found community colleges added the most first-time students in the spring, growing by 6.2%, or 14,000, new freshmen over 2023.

At four-year institutions, a 9.9% increase in students enrolling in computer and information science programs led all degree fields.

Enrollment in education programs dropped by 0.1%, a slower decline than the previous two years, while the clearinghouse said enrollment in health professions grew across all institutions for the first time "in years."

The Reston, Virginia-based educational research center releases final enrollment numbers for the fall semester every January and a count for the spring semester each May. Its estimates represent 97% of all enrollments at degree-granting institutions that receive federal student loan money.

The latest report echoes others that have found a post-pandemic uptick in young adults opting for shorter vocational training programs to become computer technicians, plumbers, electricians and other skilled professionals.

Enrollment in U.S. colleges has declined since 2009 due to falling birth rates, soaring tuition and rising living costs that have led more students to defer or avoid pricey four-year colleges.

Previous data from the National Student Clearinghouse found undergraduate college enrollment dropped 8% from fall 2019 to 2022, with declines even after in-person classes resumed.

Lance Izumi, a past president of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, said the latest numbers call for such institutions to emphasize career technical education over four-year transfer credits.

"Students are voting with their feet for programs that give them bang for their buck, not debt and dead ends," said Mr. Izumi, an education policy analyst at the free-market Pacific Research Institute who was not involved with the report.