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Beyond Your Campus: In- and Out-of-State Enrollment Trends

October 2024

In 2021, the College Board conducted research to understand the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on in- and out-of-state enrollment across the nation’s four-year public and private nonprofit institutions. Our researchers found that in 2020, in-state and out-of-state enrollment decreased 2.6% and 4.9%, respectively, across public and private nonprofit four-years. These declines were confirmed via IPEDS’s resident and migration data for first-time, first-year students that entered programs in fall 2020 (made available in fall 2022), which showed even steeper decreases in both in-state (-6%) and out-of-state (-7%) enrollment from 2018 to 2020.

However, recently released data for first-time, first-year students that entered programs in fall 2022 show that, while out-of-state enrollment (up 5%) has rebounded beyond 2018 levels, the total number of students enrolled across in-state institutions (-1%), nationally, has not.
 

In 2021, the College Board conducted research to understand the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on in- and out-of-state enrollment across the nation’s four-year public and private nonprofit institutions. Our researchers found that in 2020, in-state and out-of-state enrollment decreased 2.6% and 4.9%, respectively, across public and private nonprofit four-years. These declines were confirmed via IPEDS’s resident and migration data for first-time, first-year students that entered programs in fall 2020 (made

In 2022, the national average for in-state enrollment was 73%, down 2 percentage points from 2020 and 2018 levels (75%). Yet, large variations in in-state and out-of-state enrollment exist across regions. Less than 50% of students enrolled across four-year institutions in New England (49%) are from the state their college is in, compared to 82% of students attending schools in the Southwest.

In 2022, the national average for in-state enrollment was 73%, down 2 percentage points from 2020 and 2018 levels (75%). Yet, large variations in in-state and out-of-state enrollment exist across regions. Less than 50% of students enrolled across four-year institutions in New England (49%) are from the state their college is in, compared to 82% of students attending schools in the Southwest.

Understanding where student populations are changing can help you make the strategy adjustments your institutions needs to achieve your enrollment goals. Check our website for state-level views on changes in overall, in-state, and out-of-state between 2018 and 2022.

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Sources: https://research.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/enrollment-retention-covid2020.pdf

National Center for Education Statistics. IPEDS: Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System: Fall Enrollment/Residence and migration of first-time freshman: Fall 2018. [Washington, D.C.?]: [National Center for Education Statistics], 2024.

National Center for Education Statistics. IPEDS: Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System: Fall Enrollment/Residence and migration of first-time freshman: Fall 2020. [Washington, D.C.?]: [National Center for Education Statistics], 2024.

National Center for Education Statistics. IPEDS: Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System: Fall Enrollment/Residence and migration of first-time freshman: Fall 2022. [Washington, D.C.?]: [National Center for Education Statistics], 2024.

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