Clearinghouse Enrollment Insights
Annual Series of Enrollment Reports
Updated November 11, 2025
The Clearinghouse Enrollment Insights series is created to offer higher education institutions, policy makers, and researchers a continuous and cohesive understanding of enrollment trends. It includes three reports released throughout the academic year.
The Preliminary Fall Enrollment Trends report provides a first look at fall enrollment trends (released November). The Final Fall Enrollment Trends report (previously known as the Current Term Enrollment Estimates fall report, typically released in January) provides the final enrollment estimates for the fall term based on comprehensive data. The Final Spring Enrollment Trends report (previously known as the Current Term Enrollment Estimates spring report, typically released in June) provides final enrollment estimates for the spring term.
It is the same trusted research with an evolved structure for our enrollment report series to better serve the planning and decision making of educational leaders.
Highlights of the Preliminary Fall Enrollment Trends Report
- Preliminary fall 2025 enrollment data show total postsecondary enrollment increasing 2 percent over previous fall. Undergraduate enrollment is increasing by 2.4 percent with all sectors seeing growth (+4.0% for community colleges, +1.9% for public 4-year, and +0.9% for private nonprofit 4-year).
- Graduate enrollment has remained steady this fall, increasing by just 0.1 percent.
- Of all undergraduate and graduate credential programs, enrollment in undergraduate certificates programs is seeing the largest growth this fall (+6.6%), continuing strong gains from last year. Enrollment in other credential programs is also increasing modestly this fall (+3.1% for associate, +1.2% for bachelor’s, +1.1% for doctoral). The exception is master’s programs, which are the only credential type experiencing a decline (-0.6%).
- Undergraduate enrollment is growing across all age groups. This fall, the number of 18-year-old students is up 3.2 percent. Adult students who are 25 or older are also continuing to see gains (+3.3% for ages 25 to 29 and +2.7% for 30 or older).
- Hispanic, Black, and Multiracial students (both undergraduate and graduate) are continuing to see enrollment growth this fall. Undergraduate White students, on the other hand, are seeing declines (-3.7%).
- Across all award and institutional types, Health majors are continuing growth (ranging from +2.7% for graduate to +10.1% for undergraduate 2-year), but Computer and Information Science enrollment is decreasing this fall (ranging from -5.8% for undergraduate 2-year to -15% for graduate). At undergraduate 2-year institutions, trade majors such as Engineering Technologies/Technicians and Mechanic and Repair Technologies/Technicians are continuing to maintain strong growth, up 8.3 percent and 10.4 percent, respectively.
