Penn State enrollment numbers mirror national trends
Nov. 21—We are?
If the answer to the popular college cheer is "Penn State," there are fewer voices chiming in these days.
Although Penn State's University Park campus, which turns away hundreds of well-qualified students every year, bounced back to better than 2019 enrollment numbers, increasing from 46,313 students last year to 47,560 students this fall, all of its 19 regional campuses posted losses that contributed to a slight decline in overall enrollment from fall 2020.
Penn State's numbers come on the heels of a new survey by the National Student Clearinghouse that found college enrollment down 5.8% across the nation since fall 2019. That's the largest two-year decline in a half-century, but it's not quite as bad as a preliminary survey released last month that projected a 6.5% decline over two years.
Although researchers found across-the-board enrollment declines, with only the nation's most competitive universities escaping the trend, experts say it is troubling.
Some fear it could be a precursor to a shortage of teachers, nurses, accountants and others in positions that require a college degree in a state already faced with a graying demographic and shortages in the labor market.
In Pennsylvania, where the impact of the pandemic has exacerbated declines attributed to a shrinking pool of new high school graduates, few colleges have escaped declines in enrollment.
New Penn State numbers show that with the exception of campuses in Harrisburg and the Lehigh Valley, all of its regional campuses appear to be on a downward spiral that began about 20 years ago.
Four regional campuses in Southwestern Pennsylvania have taken significant hits in enrollment over the past two decades, leaving them about the size of a small high school. At Penn State New Kensington, enrollment declined from 1,080 to 492; Penn State Fayette, from 1,139 to 525; Penn State Beaver, 791 to 555; and Penn State Greater Allegheny, 934 to 396.
In total, regional campuses scattered across the state experienced a 26% decline in enrollment over the past two decades.
Those declines mirror enrollment drops over the same period at the 14 universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. Officials overseeing the State System have embarked on a plan to merge six campuses into three mega universities in an effort to stem their losses.
Although Penn State officials briefly broached the possibility of closing branch campuses 10 years ago when faced with a dramatic reduction in state subsidies, they since have doubled down on their continued operations and launched a variety of initiatives including tuition freezes, scholarships and community partnerships to cement their standing.
Penn State officials pointed to a 2.6% increase in the number of first-time undergraduate students at the regional campuses this fall as cause for optimism.
"Our Commonwealth campus locations are integral to fulfilling the university's land-grant mission to provide access to education and public service to citizens of Pennsylvania and beyond, and we are actively analyzing any change in enrollment while continuing to engage with our communities," Yvonne Gaudelius, Penn State vice president and dean for undergraduate education, said in a statement.
Deb Erdley is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Deb at 724-850-1209, derdley@triblive.com or via Twitter .
