Fall 2025 enrollment increased 1% — but the devil is in the details

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Dive Brief:

• Overall college enrollment ticked up 1% in fall 2025 compared to the previous year, a gain of 187,000 students, according to the latest data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. 
• Undergraduate enrollment drove overall growth with a 1.2% year-over-year increase, as community colleges and four-year public institutions saw 3% and 1.4% bumps, respectively. In contrast, undergraduate enrollment declined 1.6% at private four-year nonprofits and 2% at four-year for-profits.
• Other parts of the sector also dipped. Graduate enrollment sagged 0.3%, pushed by a 5.9% decline of international students in these programs, the clearinghouse found.

Dive Insight:

The higher education sector entered 2026 with a nervous eye on the international student pipeline, as the Trump administration continues to pursue policies limiting their ability to study at U.S. colleges.

Polling conducted mid-fall found that most surveyed colleges reported a drop in international enrollment, particularly in graduate programs.

The clearinghouse’s latest fall enrollment report aligns with those findings. In fall 2025, about 10,000 fewer international students enrolled in U.S. graduate programs compared to the prior year, it found. 

The loss came after international enrollment experienced several years of strong growth, according to Matthew Holsapple, the clearinghouse’s senior director of research. 

According to Holsapple, international enrollment has increased about 50% since fall 2020 — when the sector experienced a significant decline in these students amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

During a Wednesday call with reporters, Holsapple described this past fall’s downturn as “a pretty meaningful shift after that long period of expansion.”

Undergraduate international enrollment still grew in fall 2025 but at less than half the rate it did in fall 2024 — a 3.2% year-over-year increase compared to an 8.4% uptick.

Dual enrollment students are another key group for college leaders.

Of the fall enrollment increase at community colleges, 38.4% came from students age 17 years or younger, according to Sarah Karamarkovich, a research associate at the clearinghouse. The clearinghouse uses this age range as a proxy for dual enrollment students — those taking college classes in high school.

The bump translates to 66,000 more students under the age of 18 who took community college classes in the fall compared to the previous year, Karamarkovich told reporters.

Community college enrollment increased overall by about 173,000 students.

Among different types of academic programs, shorter-term offerings such as associate degrees and certificates continued to outpace the growth in four-year degrees.

Enrollment in associate degree programs rose 2.2% compared to fall 2024, while the number of students seeking undergraduate certificates increased 1.9%. 

Bachelor’s degrees saw more modest year-over-year growth, of 0.9%.