Colleges Struggle to Raise Enrollment Rates

 By Paige Bettencourt

Stonehill Staff Writer

 

College enrollment rates have reduced as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Three years later in a post-pandemic world, universities across the country continue to face decreasing enrollment rates.

 

Studies over the past three years show the slow incline of college enrollment rates since the start of the pandemic. According to the National Student Clearing House, as of May 2022 there was a 3.5% undergrad and graduate student enrollment decrease since the prior spring in 2021. 

 

Admissions offices faced many new challenges. With the uncertainty of a worldwide pandemic came the safety guidelines required for an applicant to meet, such as being up to date on their covid vaccinations. 

 

Scott Seseske, assistant vice president for enrollment & dean of undergraduate admission at Stonehill College, said that colleges everywhere were facing new challenges during the pandemic.

 

In general, colleges had to adapt to a new system. Classes were moved online. Zoom calls became relevant to learning. The college experience seen in movies was no longer a reality for students.

 

Admissions counselors at Stonehill College, located in Easton, Massachusetts, found their enrollment rates did not falter as much as other schools may have.

 

“Stonehill held relatively steady in terms of first-year enrollment,” Seseske said.

 

According to Seseske, who has worked for Stonehill since 2015, the records the admissions office has kept over the past three years. They show that the colleges enrollment rates had not strayed too far from Stonehill’s enrollment goal.

 

Stonehill admitted 672 students during the fall of 2020. According to Seseske this was larger than the class admitted the previous year before the pandemic. The fall of 2021 declined slightly, admitting only 628 first-year students. However, during the fall of 2022 Stonehill admitted 725 students proving to be Stonehill’s largest first-year class.

 

According to a survey conducted by Forbes, many students felt unprepared for college. Many professors also report finding themselves handing out lower grades as a result of virtual learning in high school. According to professors who worked through the pandemic, students of minorities or lower income are struggling the most.

 

John Pepin, the senior associate dean of admissions at Stonehill College said most of the students they had enrolled during the three-year pandemic were local to where Stonehill resides. 

 

“The pandemic changed everything,” Pepin said.

 

While the number of students enrolled may not have faltered as greatly as other universities numbers did, the type of student applying changed. According to Pepin, many of the students who were enrolled during the pandemic years were from the area surrounding Stonehill.

 

“We also found that students chose colleges closer to home during the height of the pandemic.” Seseske said.

 

Pepin received many concerns from families regarding their student’s safety being away from home and how the college would adapt to new safety guidelines set by the state.

 

Concerns about covid safety did not seem to impact or affect residential rates. During the year 2020, about 90% of first-year students were residential. Then, during the year 2021, in the middle of the pandemic, the percentage of first-year residential students dropped to about 80%. This year, with the end of the pandemic, the number of first-year residential students has grown again, making up roughly 93% of the class of 2026.

 

During the height of the pandemic however, accepting students from out of state became an issue for Stonehill’s admissions office. 

 

According to Pepin, Stonehill could not take in students from Rhode Island for a short amount of time due to the state being in the red zone, having a significant number of covid-cases within the state. This decision was made in order to keep other students and staff at Stonehill safe.

 

Enrolling students was only one of the greatest challenges universities faced during the pandemic. According to both Seseske and Pepin, Stonehill had to adapt and completely scrap the way they used to advertise the school to incoming freshmen. 

 

“We learned a lot during this time.” Pepin said.

 

Due to state safety guidelines and concern for the colleges staff and students at the time, there were big changes made in order to encourage new applicants to apply. Campus tours were now done virtually or through a self-driven tour, where families would drive through the campus in their vehicles rather than walk around in a group. The admissions office created power points to present to families over zoom meetings, and even extended application deadlines for students to have more time to make their final decisions. 

 

As a result of the pandemic, the national student body is still down by roughly 1.4 million students. The Hechinger Report concludes the long-term effects of less people continuing their education could have a negative influence on the future of society. 

 

Most higher paying jobs in today’s environment require a person to have a specialized degree listed on their resume. The concerning amount of people not continuing their education will leave more people living in lower-income communities. Studies show that these people are more prone to depression and tend to divorce more frequently.

 

The reasons for the decline in enrollment rates may vary. Factors such as the changes and adaptations colleges were forced to make, the effects of virtual learning, and lack of motivation of students all contribute to the struggling enrollment rates today.

 

Colleges across the nation continue to do their best in encouraging students to apply and raise enrollment rates.

 

The pandemic presented many challenges for the nations universities and negatively affected the college enrollment rates. Most colleges today in the post-pandemic world are certainly working to meet pre-pandemic admissions goals and create a stronger society.

 

“Though we are happy to return to more in-person programming, we have continued to run some of the successful programs started during the height of the pandemic.” Seseske said.

 

Stonehill will continue to utilize new programs created during the pandemic and give new students better accessibility to the college’s information.