CSU reports near-3.6% dip in enrollment for Fall 2020 semester

FORT COLLINS — Colorado State University said its enrollment fell by 3.56% at its flagship campus this semester, as the pandemic continues to upend life within higher education.

The figures put the number of students at the Fort Collins campus at 27,835 as of its latest student census, down from 28,864 last fall.

CSU president Joyce McConnell said in June that the university was projecting a $30 million drop in tuition revenue this year, due to the possibility of students choosing cheaper online classes at a community college rather than studying on campus.

Undergraduate headcount at the Fort Collins campus fell 4.1%, driven by a fall in new freshmen arriving. A total of 5,540 students made up the school’s freshman class this semester, compared to 6,289 last year.

New transfer student enrollment fell by 20.3% from the same period last year.

Enrollment fell at almost every college within the university, with triple-digit losses in the Health and Human Services school and the Walter Scott Jr. Engineering School.

The Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Science program was the only school to see an increase in students, adding 19 from the fall semester prior.

However, the university reported that 85.3% of its freshman class last year enrolled for this academic year, representing no change from last year when the COVID-19 pandemic was not a factor.

CSU-Pueblo reported a slightly smaller 3.3% decrease in students from this semester to the fall semester last year, with a headcount of 3,716.

© 2020 BizWest Media LLC

on Facebook on LinkedIn