N.C. community college spring enrollment growth outpaces national trends

Undergraduate enrollment increased by 3.5% in spring 2025 from spring 2024, according to new estimates from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, with 15.3 million students enrolled in undergraduate programs across the country.

“Enrollment increased for all undergraduate credential types,” the report’s landing page says. “Bachelor’s and associate programs grew by 2.1 percent and 6.3 percent, respectively, but remain below spring 2020 levels. Undergraduate certificate program enrollment continued to grow this spring (+4.8%) and is now 20 percent above 2020.”

Total undergraduate enrollment is still 2.4% below pre-pandemic levels, the report found, for a difference of about 378,000 students.

Among undergraduate enrollments, community colleges saw the largest growth — a 5.4% increase, or 288,000 students.

In North Carolina, that increase was even larger.

Among public two-year colleges in North Carolina, spring enrollment increased by 8.3%, or by nearly 16,000 students, compared to spring 2024.

That number reflects a 2.7% decrease from spring 2020, per the report. You can explore the statewide data in the charts below:

More on the data

The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center releases Current Term Enrollment Estimates (CTEE) every January and May, providing final enrollment estimates for fall and spring semesters.

For the first time, this year’s spring report includes information on enrollment by race and ethnicity, according to the center’s website.

“Most ethnoracial groups saw increases in enrollment this spring, with Black and multiracial undergraduate students seeing the largest growth (+10.3% and +8.5%, respectively),” the report’s landing page says.

Total postsecondary enrollment, which includes graduate students, is up 3.2% this spring, according to the report. In North Carolina, total postsecondary enrollment is up 4.7% from last spring.

There was a 2.5% increase among public four-year colleges in North Carolina during the same time period, and a 2.3% increase among private four-year colleges.

According to the report, the number of undergraduate students in their 20s also increased this spring, “marking a start of recovery after consistent declines since the pandemic.”

And for the third consecutive year, high-vocational public two-year colleges “had substantial growth in enrollment (+11.7%, +91,000).”

“Enrollment at these trade-focused institutions increased almost 20 percent since the spring of 2020 (871,000 students; +19.4% over 2020) and now comprises 19.4 percent of public two-year enrollment,” the report says.

Spring 2025 enrollment data for the N.C. Community College System (NCCCS) is not yet publicly available on the system’s website. The NCCCS tracks two measures of enrollment: total headcount, which follows the number of students enrolled in any course, and Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) student enrollment, which is how community colleges receive state funding.

Nationally, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center looks at total student enrollment, which is most comparable with statewide headcount data.

You can read the full report on the center’s website.