Current Term Enrollment Estimates

May 22, 2025

Current Term Enrollment Estimates (CTEE) series is published every January and May, providing final enrollment estimates for the fall and spring terms. It provides national enrollment estimates by credential type, institutional sector and other characteristics (e.g., locale, program focus), enrollment intensity, student demographics (e.g., age, race/ethnicity, gender), and major field, as well as state-level enrollment estimates. Enrollment estimates are adjusted for Clearinghouse data coverage rates by institutional sector, state, and year.

The Current Term Enrollment Estimates report differs from the Stay Informed report series which is designed to quantify the effects of COVID-19 by analyzing year-over-year percent change in unadjusted preliminary data for fixed panels of institutions that reported data in the same month each year across all comparison years. Hence, enrollment estimates may differ between the CTEE and the Stay Informed reports due to the difference in methodology and institution coverage. Postsecondary institutions actively submitting enrollment data to the Clearinghouse account for 97 percent of the total enrollments at Title IV, degree-granting institutions in the U.S.

The dashboard-based report allows users to explore the longitudinal data through interactive visualizations. Specific major family-related data are available in the Data Appendix for download.

For the first time in the Spring CTEE report, we are providing information on enrollment by race/ethnicity.

Spring 2025 Highlights

Total postsecondary enrollment is up 3.2 percent this spring (+562,000), compared to spring 2024. Undergraduate enrollment grew 3.5 percent, reaching 15.3 million but remains below pre-pandemic levels (-2.4%, -378,000). Graduate enrollment also increased 1.5 percent, now 7.2 percent (+209,000) higher than in 2020.
Undergraduate enrollment increased across major institutional sectors, with community colleges (Public two-year and Public PABs) seeing the largest growth (+5.4%, +288,000).
Enrollment increased for all undergraduate credential types. Bachelor’s and associate programs grew by 2.1 percent and 6.3 percent, respectively, but remain below spring 2020 levels. Undergraduate certificate program enrollment continued to grow this spring (+4.8%) and is now 20 percent above 2020.
Most ethnoracial groups saw increases in enrollment this spring, with Black and multiracial undergraduate students seeing the largest growth (+10.3% and +8.5%, respectively).
The number of undergraduate students in their twenties increased this spring (+3.2% for students 21-24 and +5.9% for students 25-29), marking a start of a recovery after consistent declines since the pandemic.
For the third consecutive year, high vocational public two-years had substantial growth in enrollment (+11.7%, +91,000). Enrollment at these trade-focused institutions increased almost 20 percent since the spring of 2020 (871,000 students; +19.4% over 2020) and now comprises 19.4 percent of public two-year enrollment.