Modest Enrollment Gains At Connecticut Colleges

WILLIMANTIC — Connecticut colleges are making a steady comeback in enrollment after hitting bottom four years ago, fueled by growing numbers of undergraduate students, according to 2000 headcounts announced today by Valerie F. Lewis, Interim Commissioner of Higher Education.

The final tallies, collected by the Department of Higher Education, show 160,709 students attending the state’s public and independent institutions of higher learning – an increase of 2,876 students or 1.8 percent more than last year. This growth continues a positive trend begun in 1998, when enrollment stabilized at 154,229 students, followed by last year’s increase of 2.3 percent. Previously, enrollment had peaked in 1989 at 169,132 before starting an eight-year slump in which student counts fell by 15,103, or nine percent.

This fall, enrollment rose 2.8 percent at public institutions to 100,453, for an increase of 2,781 students – the first year counts at these institutions topped the 100,000 mark since 1994. Every type of public institution posted gains. In contrast, the overall total of 60,256 at the independent colleges was virtually the same as last year, up just 0.2 percent, or 95 students, but counts among these schools varied considerably with sharp declines at the more specialized, smaller schools.

Announcing the figures at a morning meeting of the Board of Governors for Higher Education at Eastern Connecticut State University, Interim Commissioner Lewis said, “Because the state’s pool of high school graduates is growing, we expect college enrollment to climb until 2006. Fortunately, our public colleges are well-positioned to handle growth in the near future, since investments in facilities and staff have risen significantly over the years despite fewer students.”

“I am concerned, however, over the volatility occurring at our more specialized, independent colleges,” stated Ms Lewis said. “These sharp drops could signal a shifting market which bears careful watch.”

Across the state, enrollment was up due mostly to greater numbers of undergraduates, whose numbers grew by 2,823 or nearly 2.3 percent. Among these undergraduates, new freshmen accounted for more than 33 percent of the increase, continuing a pattern begun in 1998 and reflecting growth in the number of Connecticut’s high school graduates which is expected to last until 2008 before declining again. Graduate enrollment, on the other hand, remained unchanged from last year, up just 62.

While good news, the higher enrollment at state-supported institutions is still more than 9,000 students short of the peak reached in 1989 and falls at the low range of the Department of Higher Education’s projections, which estimated fall 2000 enrollment at these colleges to be between 98,000 and 107,000.