Fall 2023 enrollment down at most area colleges and universities except for 1
Oct. 31—FARGO — Fall enrollment statistics are out for higher education institutions in the area, with virtually all showing a downward direction in overall numbers.
However, one university 80 miles north of here is bucking that trend, and others say there are areas of growth that bring cause for optimism.
North Dakota State University reports a fall 2023 headcount of 11,952 students, a continued steady decline from fall 2019 when 13,173 total students were enrolled.
NDSU
Fall headcount
2023 — 11,952
2022 — 12,242
2021 — 12,461
2020 — 12,846
2019 — 13,173
Source: NDUS
Seinquis Leinen, senior director of strategic enrollment management, said the last time NDSU was below 12,000 students was before she joined the university in 2014.
However, headcount is only one way to look at enrollment, she said.
Another is by full-time equivalencies or FTE's, that take into account credit hours enrolled for full-time and part-time students and is the manner in which institutions receive revenue under the state funding formula.
NDSU fares better in regard to FTE's than in overall headcount.
Across the Red River, Minnesota State University Moorhead and Concordia College have also experienced slow, steady declines in enrollment over the last five years.
Thirty days into the school year, MSUM reports 4,379 total students, down from 5,751 from the same period in 2019.
MSUM
Fall headcount
2023 — 4,379
2022 — 4,679
2021 — 5,079
2020 — 5,548
2019 — 5,751
Source: MSUM
At Concordia, a private liberal arts college, fall 2023 enrollment stands at 1,868 total students, down slightly from fall 2019, when 2,042 students were taking classes.
CONCORDIA
Fall headcount
2023 — 1,868
2022 — 1,903
2021 — 1,919
2020 — 1,973
2019 — 2,042
Source: Concordia
The University of North Dakota in Grand Forks is the exception in area higher education enrollment, showing small but steady increases over the last five years.
UND registered 14,172 total students this fall compared with 13,581 five years ago.
UND
Fall headcount
2023 — 14,172
2022 — 13,876
2021 — 13,772
2020 — 13,615
2019 — 13,581
Source: NDUS
Janelle Kilgore, vice provost for strategic enrollment management at UND, said higher education enrollment nationwide peaked in 2011 and has been slowly declining since.
But she said they've worked hard over the last five years to examine internal processes and remove any possible barriers standing in the way of students enrolling at UND.
UND has also invested heavily in online education, with many students taking advantage of a hybrid approach, where some classes are in person and some online, while others may be fully online but still living in the community.
Kilgore said UND also had a significant number, more than 1,000 new transfer students, coming on board this fall.
It takes teamwork across campus to make a smooth transition.
"Everybody is willing and wanting to help students," she said.
While UND has a headcount 2,220 students higher than NDSU this year, Leinen points out growth in multiple key areas.
Enrollment is up with in-person graduate students and part-time, online graduate students, as well as undergraduate online students.
Leinen said NDSU continues to have the highest number of beginning freshmen enrolling among colleges and universities in the state, and remains the number one out-of-state college destination for first-year students from Minnesota.
NDSU will continue to focus on strategies to broaden access for students, she said, through a continuing variety of scholarship offerings and no application fee for undergraduate students.
