On the other hand, Portland State’s news of a drop in enrollment this fall follows a decline of nearly 11% in fall term enrollment from 2019 to 2021, according to the HECC. According to board documents, the university has lost roughly $18 million in gross tuition and fee revenue since the 2019-20 fiscal year.
Solid numbers aren’t yet available this fall term, which started about a month ago, but according to data Manning presented, PSU is seeing a decrease in new students enrolling at the university. The preliminary figures show PSU has 133 fewer first-year students this fall compared to last fall. The drop in new transfer students is dramatic, with about 400 fewer transfers.
Some of the universities have leftover federal coronavirus relief funds that can soften the blow of the lost revenue. PSU said the university expects to have more clarity on its enrollment numbers and budget situation next month when its finance and administration committee meets.
According to HECC data, PCC saw the steepest decrease in enrollment from 2019 to last fall across all of the community colleges — about 23%. Enrollment has been steadily shrinking at most of Oregon’s community colleges, even prior to the pandemic. Over the last decade, PCC’s enrollment has fallen nearly 40%, according to the HECC.
And a look at one of Oregon’s largest public universities, the University of Oregon. That college has fared well over the course of the pandemic. It only lost about 1.4% of student enrollment from 2019 to 2021, according to HECC data. UO announced last month the largest number of incoming students in university history, with a freshman class of about 5,300 this fall term.
