Massachusetts colleges see big decline in enrollment

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.