College, anyone? 🎓🎒 Can we interest you in some bed risers and a crusty bean bag chair? How about a nice tall red solo cup full of jungle juice? 😵🍺
Although first-year enrollment is up between 5% to 7%, overall enrollment at PA's state universities is down by 4.5% to 5.5%.
Here’s Five Fast Facts on the latest college enrollment stats in PA:
- 😎 Freshman 15 - East Stroudsburg University had a 46% increase in first-time freshmen and transfer students. The school says their spiffy marketing, a streamlined application process, and new scholarship opportunities brought in more students.
- 🦉 Owl-ficial Numbers - Temple University reported earlier this year that it expected to be down about 1,500 undergrads for the fall semester.
- 🦸 When Our Powers Combine - The California University of Pennsylvania, Clarion University, and Edinboro University recently linked up and formed Pennsylvania Western University or PennWest. Even with those combined forces, overall enrollment is down about 11%.
- 🐏 Go Rams! - West Chester University, one of the largest schools in PA, reported a less than 2% decline in overall enrollment. They say it's mostly due to the 8% decline in graduate students.
- 📈 Clownin' Around in Kutztown - While overall enrollment declined slightly at Kutztown University, freshmen and graduate students rose. The university said it has 355 master’s and doctoral degree students, up from 207 last fall.
🔥Bottom line: Folks are rethinking college these days, with some opting for trade schools and apprenticeships instead. The pandemic forced people to rethink their future plans and inflation did a number on American budgets. Either way, it looks like PA colleges are doing a bit of a see-saw with enrollment. It's too early to tell whether or not the overall decline is temporary or here to stay. We'll keep our eyes peeled. 👀
Did you start college in PA this fall?
Guess what? The President doesn't really impact college costs or enrollments...but your local & state government reps do! Here’s three small things you can do that make a BIG impact:
