Local colleges expect significant enrollment increase this fall

Many local colleges are seeing dramatic rises in enrollment, which appears to be making up for the steep drop-off in college students during the pandemic.

Morgan State University expects record-setting enrollment for the fourth straight year, and to hit its goal of 10,000 students years ahead of time. (Enrollment numbers won't be official until later this fall.) Towson University had a record year with new freshman applications - more than 20,000 - and said it's "on target with our enrollment projections with both new and continuing students of 19,500," about the same as 2023.

Meanwhile, UMBC said:

We anticipate enrolling a first time, first year class well over 2,200, which will be the largest first year class in the history of UMBC.

The University System of Maryland, which oversees 19 public institutions statewide, expects enrollment to increase this fall.

Headcount enrollment is also projected to increase over the next decade by almost 24,000 students - to a total of 190,613 in the fall of 2033.

Those numbers follow a national trend . The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center said earlier this year that “the number of students in college has finally turned the corner after years of decline."

Some private institutions are also seeing high enrollment.

Notre Dame of Maryland University said it's set to welcome one of its top three largest classes of new undergratues for a second year in a row.