Despite significant roadblocks to federal student aid, more Oregonians signed up for post-secondary education this fall. Community college students are driving the enrollment boost.
Enrollment is up at most of the state's public higher education institutions this year, but some universities and colleges have a lot more work ahead to reach pre-pandemic enrollment figures.
Fall headcount across the state's community colleges and public universities increased by 3% compared to this time last year, continuing an upward trend from 2023. That's according to a recent report compiled by the state's Higher Education Coordinating Commission.
Community colleges led the way, with a more than 4% increase in student headcount -- the metric institutions use to count the number of individual students in attendance. Enrollment gains were made at 12 of the state's 17 community colleges, including the two largest: Portland Community College and Chemeketa Community College. Students taking full course loads also went up this fall by 7%.
This is a signal that students who may have felt left behind in 2020 are coming back, said Oregon Community College Association Deputy Director John Wykoff.
"The students that were not able to take advantage of the training and education offered by community colleges during the pandemic are really starting to return," said Wykoff. "Hopefully this means that their lives are getting a bit easier than they were during the pandemic."
Wykoff also said a renewed interest in short-term certificates and career technical education is driving up enrollment at community colleges, as Oregonians look for efficient and affordable ways to advance their careers and secure well-paying jobs.
At Portland Community College, where the student headcount grew by nearly 6%, full-time equivalent enrollment in classes that transfer to a four-year university and career technical education courses increased by about 5% from 2023.
But this fall's total enrollment at community colleges is still below pre-pandemic levels by about 17%. Community colleges saw a huge dip in enrollment from fall 2019 to fall 2020 of more than 23%.
The pandemic enrollment decline was not as deep at most of Oregon's public universities, where recent growth has boosted enrollment to within a half percentage point of 2019 levels. At the same time, recent growth at universities is not as strong as community colleges' gains. Total headcount was up at universities by 1.7% and full-time enrollment gained a 2.7% increase compared to 2023.
First-time freshman enrollment at public universities remained relatively flat from last year, but is more than 11% above 2019, before the pandemic.
The overall positive fall enrollment boost is good news for a higher education realm that was bracing for a possible enrollment crisis this school year due to the federal government's botched rollout of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA.
"If this had been a normal FAFSA year, enrollment numbers would probably be even higher," said Ben Cannon, HECC's executive director. "The FAFSA issues likely took a toll, but that's even more reason to think that the enrollment data reflects a groundswell in support for returning to higher education in Oregon."
The U.S. Department of Education released an updated version of FAFSA in late 2023. The new application was plagued by technical glitches and other problems that barred many students from applying for aid for months. Financial aid counselors worried that students would give up on the cumbersome application, miss out on substantial federal student financial aid in the form of Pell Grants and either not go to college, or do so with increased debt loads.
Oregon's higher education institutions responded to the messy rollout by making their own admissions deadlines more flexible. Admissions and career counselors offered individualized FAFSA application help to students and families. And HECC's Office of Student Access and Completion sent out staff to high schools and community centers throughout the state to assist with applications.
That extra legwork appears to have paid off more for some universities than others.
Oregon State University is keeping its post as the state's largest university, with a 3.5% total student increase this fall. Oregon State pushed back enrollment deadlines this year and communicated often with student applicants and their families. That made a difference, but there are other factors at play.
"We're also fortunate to have a fairly diversified enrollment portfolio: Undergraduate, graduate, professional, on three different campuses," said Jon Boeckenstedt, Oregon State's vice provost of enrollment management, in an emailed statement. "Sometimes enrollment falls in one area but gets picked up by another that grows."
OSU's online offerings, known as Ecampus, is helping push the university's continued growth. Ecampus enrollment grew by more than 6% from last year.
None of the tailwinds helping push postsecondary enrollment in Oregon appears to be carrying over to Portland State University. Total student enrollment at PSU fell by 2.7% from last year, continuing a yearslong downward trend.
PSU's reliance on community college transfer students is a big reason for the decline, said Vice President for Enrollment Management Chuck Knepfle. More than half of PSU students are transfer students, so what community colleges felt a few years ago is still affecting the downtown Portland university.
"The economy-related enrollment declines have been magnified by the enrollment issues at our community college partners," said Knepfle, in an emailed statement. "We are incredibly reliant on their enrollments, and those enrollments -- especially at Portland Community College -- have been slow to rebound after the pandemic."
The recent gains in student enrollment at PCC may take two to three years to transfer to Portland State, according to Knepfle. He also said the FAFSA rollout this year may have had a bigger impact on PSU than other universities.
Several reports have shown that students from low-income and other marginalized communities were disproportionately impacted by the botched rollout. According to PSU's 2023 enrollment figures, 30% of Portland State's student population received Pell Grants and more than 40% of the university's student body identified as people of color.
"The FAFSA issues did not affect all student populations the same," said Knepfle. "These are the students most at risk for not going to college, and importantly, they are also the students PSU is most committed to serving."
Enrollment at the state's regional universities were mixed this year. Eastern Oregon University saw a 2.7% bump in students this fall. Western Oregon University lagged by about 3% in enrollment compared to last year and Southern Oregon University saw a slight decrease of less than a percentage point.