Massachusetts colleges see big decline in enrollment
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Harvard University. Photo: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
Massachusetts has seen one of the sharpest drops in undergraduate enrollment nationwide since the pandemic started.
Why it matters: The Boston area has long been considered the nation's college capital, home to Harvard University, MIT, Boston University, Emerson College and other schools.
- The continued drop in enrollment has stretched budgets and prompted some schools to shut down, including Becker College in Foxboro.
Details: The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center estimates enrollment has fallen by 11% in the Bay State since March 2020.
- This spring alone, two-year colleges took the biggest hit, with a nearly 10% drop in enrollment from spring 2021.
- Other types of colleges, like private and public four-year schools, saw smaller, single-digit declines.
The big picture: The full impact on higher education remains unclear. NSC notes that at least one large private four-year university had inconsistent data over multiple years, making it harder to nail down enrollment estimates.
- The report does not specify which institution had these gaps in its data.