The University of Akron received some good enrollment news this year with a large freshman class and its total number of students up 3.4% compared to last fall.
It's the first major enrollment increase the university has seen in years, though its total enrollment, 15,318, is still about half of what it was in 2010.
University of Akron President R.J. Nemer called the enrollment growth “a testament to the dedication of our faculty and staff" in a news release.
"There is incredible momentum at UA," he said. "From excellent educational programming to the unmatched spirit across campus, the energy here is palpable. Students and families are recognizing that The University of Akron is creating opportunity and saying a resounding ‘yes’ to student success.”
Youngstown State University's enrollment also grew this fall, up by nearly 300 students, marking its second year of growth. The university saw a large influx of students in fall 2024 after the closure of Eastern Gateway Community College in Steubenville and Youngstown.
"Last fall’s surge was fueled by unique factors — Eastern Gateway transfers, international growth and a spike in CCP (College Credit Plus) students," said YSU President Bill Johnson in a statement. "The idea that we could stack another year of growth on top of that? Highly unlikely. But here we are. YSU has defied the odds."
Higher education enrollment nationally appears to have stabilized recently after falling year-after-year for more than a decade and a half, a trend exacerbated during the early years of the pandemic. Declining birth rates have led to fewer high-school-aged students available for colleges and universities.
Enrollment is down at the two other large public universities in Northeast Ohio, Cleveland State University and Kent State University, though Cleveland State's was more pronounced. Cleveland State's enrollment is 13,107 this fall, down by 7.7% — or more than 1,000 students — compared to last fall. The university in a statement said it's seeing some positive trends, however: large gains in online enrollment, and retention of students from one year to the next is up slightly.
Kent State University's enrollment is down about 2% overall, though the university in a statement said it received a record number of applications for the fall semester, and record first-year cohorts at its College of Business and Entrepreneurship and its College of Aeronautics and Engineering.
Cleveland State and the University of Akron have moved to cut their budgets recently. Cleveland State has cut staff and sports like wrestling over the last two years, while the University of Akron proposed cutting faculty in late fall 2024. More recently, a work group found a way for the University of Akron to avoid those layoffs through retirements and revenue generation, though it's not clear if that plan was ever approved. Kent State University is also pursuing its "Transformation 2028" plan, which will consolidate some schools and colleges and their academic leadership.
Other challenges also persist for universities' international enrollment under the Trump administration, temporarily pausing and revamping the process for international students.
“With the pause in visas — and what’s happening in the world in general — international enrollments have been really challenging, especially for our CSU global partners,” said Randy Deike, Cleveland State's vice president of enrollment management, in a statement.
