A new report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center finds that enrollments of undergraduate and graduate students, fell a further 4.1 percent or 685,000 students in spring 2022 compared to spring 2021. This follows a 3.5 percent drop last spring, for a total two-year decline of 7.4 percent or nearly 1.3 million students since spring 2020.
There were 462,000 fewer women enrolled this spring, a decrease of 4.6 percent. Ths was more than double the decline from the previous year, leading to a two-year total enrollment decline of 665,000 women students. Community colleges contributed most to this loss with 251,000 fewer women. This was a drop of 9.2 percent. During the same period, male enrollments in community colleges declined by 5.6 percent.
At public four-year colleges and universities, women’s enrollments were down 3.4 percent from a year ago, just slightly higher than the decrease for men. Over the past two years, the number of women enrolled in public four-year colleges and universities is down by nearly 104,000 students.
Decreases were smaller at private four-year colleges and universities. Women’s enrollments are down 1.6 percent from a year ago, compared to a 1.9 percent decline among men. Since the spring of 2020, there are 38,000 fewer women enrolled at these institutions.
Women’s enrollments in for-profit educational institutions were down 3.1 this spring compared to last year. Male enrollments at these institutions were down 6 percent, almost double the rate for women.