Georgia public college enrollment numbers trending down | www.myajc.com

The overall decrease reduced the system wide enrollment about 1.6 percent from around 314,000 students last fall to about 309,000 for the same time this year, according to figures released last month by the University System of Georgia. Enrollment is down almost three percent from the all-time of high of 318,000 in 2011.

The declines have left some schools desperate for dollars and pulling out all the stops to attract students. In Georgia’s university system, because funding is tied to students and the credit hours they take, the decrease of almost 5,000 students meant about $20 million less that the system’s board could request in state funds. The university system receives about $1.88 billion in state funds this fiscal year.

And institution officials have begun peppering their conversations with the realities of a “new normal” in higher education. The university system is facing that reality by reexamining its programs, cuttings costs where possible and merging some of its institutions. Eight schools have already been merged into four new ones, another merger is in the works, and there could be additional school consolidations to come.

The decreases come after years of enrollment increases across the state, including fall 2011 when the system hit a record 318,000 students enrolled at its higher education institutions.

The trends seen by Georgia institutions mirror those seen nationally, said Joe Marks, education data services director for the Southern Regional Education Board.

A mixture of fewer high school graduates, along with the other issues cited by the university system, all played a role, he said.

College enrollment in fall 2012 plunged by half a million students from one year earlier, according to census statistics released this fall. Like Georgia, the national decline — which included both graduate and undergraduate enrollment — followed a period of substantial growth — 3.2 million students — between 2006 and 2011.