While enrollment at two- and four-year Connecticut public colleges has decreased by roughly 20 percent between 2018 and 2023, enrollment across all University of Connecticut (UConn) campuses has increased during the same time frame.
Those numbers come from a recent report on college enrollment produced by the Office of Legislative Research (OLR). According to the report, total enrollment for all two- and four-year public colleges in the state decreased from 112,861 in 2018 to 89,932 in 2023.
During the same time period, enrollment for the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) fell by 22.4 percent, from 82,275 in 2018 to 63,405 in 2023. Western Connecticut State University had the greatest drop in enrollment during that time period, at 26.7 percent, while Southern Connecticut State University had the lowest drop in enrollment, at 12.2 percent.
Connecticut’s community colleges also experienced a decrease in enrollment, falling by 27 percent between 2019 and 2023. That rate of decline is greater than the nationwide average, which saw declining enrollment of 14.3 percent during the same time period.
Enrollment across all UConn campuses grew by 2.2 percent during the same time period. In 2019, the total enrollment at UConn was 31,646. In 2023, it grew to 32,332. Enrollment at the Storrs campus increased from 18,769 in 2018 to 19,067 in 2023, an increase of 1.6 percent.
According to the report, college enrollment across the country is down 4.6 percent between 2018 and 2023, meaning enrollment in Connecticut is decreasing at a faster rate than the national average, with UConn being an exception.
But, according to OLR’s analysis, the overall downward trend may be pandemic-driven and may also be reversing. While nationwide enrollment numbers dropped between 2018 and 2022, there was a 1.2 percent increase in enrollment in 2023.
Along with UConn’s enrollment increase, CSCU’s New Britain campus saw a 0.6 percent increase in enrollment between 2021 and 2023. During the same two-year period, UConn’s Storrs campus saw enrollment grow by 4.3 percent and all UConn campuses grew by 0.6 percent. According to OLR, their numbers suggest enrollment may be rising post-pandemic.
However, other CSCU campuses, including Eastern, Southern, and Western Connecticut State Universities continued to see enrollment fall.
State funding for Connecticut’s institutions of higher education was at the forefront of the recently concluded legislative session. Both UConn and CSCU have projected budget deficits reaching into fiscal year 2025. CSCCU’s deficit is projected to be $140 million and UConn’s is projected to be $70 million.
UConn has proposed a 15 percent cut in its operating budget over the next five years. It also requested an additional $59.9 million in state funding, including $47.3 million in fiscal year 2025 and $12.6 million for the UConn Health Center in fiscal year 2025.
Funding for the university was included in a bill re-allocating and stabilizing the state budget, passed by the legislature during its most recent session. The state awarded the remaining American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to higher education.
UConn was allocated $68.9 million, an increase from an allocated $11.1 million for fiscal year 2025. The UConn Health Center received $48 million for fiscal year 2025, up from $25.7 million.
The University of Bridgeport also received $500,000 in funding for fiscal year 2025 and CSCU received $128.8 million, up from $48.8 million in previous allocations, for the same year.
Gov. Ned Lamont is expected to sign the bill into law as soon as this week.
The legislature also voted to pass a new agreement with the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC), which was brokered by the Lamont administration. The agreement includes a $2.5 percent general wage increase, which is expected to cost state universities roughly $70 million per year beginning in fiscal year 2025.
While the legislature ultimately passed the bill, the move did not come without criticism from Democrats in the legislature who criticized Lamont for not also increasing funding to public universities to cover the increased costs and expressed concern it would lead to tuition hikes.
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