CU sees normal drop from the spring to the fall

The University of Colorado Boulder did not see an abnormal flux in enrollment between the fall and spring semesters, nor did the campus see a significant drop in enrollment compared to last spring, unlike other higher education institutions across the country.

CU’s enrollment drops by approximately 6% from the fall to the spring semester each year, rebounding by the following fall semester. This is due to a variety of reasons, said Executive Director of Admissions Clark Brigger, including seniors who graduate in December and students who, for whatever reason, don’t return for the spring semester.

Total student enrollment dropped from 34,975 students during the fall 2021 semester to 32,777 during the spring 2021 semester, according to campus data. That’s a 6.2% decrease and is smaller than the fall-spring drops in the previous two school years.

The difference between spring 2020 enrollment and spring 2021 enrollment was fewer than 300 students, or a less than 1% decrease in enrollment year to year. Meanwhile, higher education institutions across the country saw a 6% drop in enrollment this spring compared to the same time last year, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, which is “the steepest decline in undergraduate enrollment since the beginning of the pandemic,” the Clearinghouse report noted.

National data is not a great comparison to CU, Brigger said, particularly because it includes regional institutions, community colleges and universities in more urban environments.

“Our backdrop implies the great outdoors, great weather, etc.” Brigger said. “All of these probably played in our favor.”

While CU’s enrollment dropped in fall, Brigger said the admissions office is seeing “significant numbers” of students who deferred this year confirming their enrollment for fall 2021.

Coronavirus absolutely played a role in students deferring or not returning to the university, Brigger said.

But a lot of the traditional college experience that was not possible during the pandemic is looking increasingly likely for next year.