Valley colleges working to curb drop in enrollment numbers

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Valley colleges are taking action to curb a concerning nationwide trend - dropping enrollment numbers.

Fresno State noticed a slight drop in fall 2021 - mostly in transfer students.

But numbers are looking promising for the fall semester, with freshman orientation numbers roughly the same as last year's.

"What our focus has been is ensuring we provide services for students to support them," said Associate VP of Enrollment Management Malisa Lee.

Fresno Pacific University has seen the same trend, dropping from 4,000 students in fall 2020 to roughly 3,500 in fall 2021.

The largest drop came from adult degree completion programs.

"There's fewer students in the pool and layered on that is the pandemic. We've seen a drop in students going to college or students going to college and dropping out," said Fresno Pacific University president Andre Stephens.

They say the focus now is bringing those numbers back up.

"Part of the plan is to say what needs to be done differently now given the realities we're living in - certainly working with the higher ed sector here, granting more ease of access, transferability," said Stephens.

The fall 2022 semester starts for both colleges in August.