After posting years of enrollment growth, Georgia’s public universities saw the number of students dip this fall, driven by declines in undergraduates.
The decrease was in line with national trends, after a year in which the University System of Georgia’s 26 institutions had defied a shrinking number of students nationwide. The system had shown enrollment increases for seven straight years, reaching an all-time high last fall.
Students statewide fell by 0.2% to 340,638, according to numbers released Monday. That almost-flat total conceals a divide in the system, with the biggest and most prestigious institutions still growing, while more and more smaller schools shrink.
The National Student Clearinghouse reported last week that undergraduate enrollment at all colleges nationwide fell 3.2% from a year ago, while enrollment fell 2.3% at public four-year colleges, compared with a 2.1% decrease at Georgia schools. Undergraduate enrollment fell most among sophomores and juniors in Georgia, suggesting more may have dropped out amid the stresses of the pandemic, overcoming the system’s push to keep students on track to degrees.
But graduate enrollment at the Georgia schools rose 7.9%, compared with 2.1% for all public and private universities nationally. The number of high school students taking dual enrollment courses from Georgia schools also rose.
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