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Regents hearing: systemwide enrollments tick up while community colleges show steep declines
Summary
At the March meeting of the Kansas Board of Regents, staff presented an annual enrollment report showing small overall gains for the system but large, divergent trends by sector, age and residency. Community colleges and resident headcount have fallen significantly over a decade, while technical colleges and younger students have increased.
Vice President Frisbie presented the Board of Regents' annual enrollment report at the March meeting, saying systemwide headcount and full‑time‑equivalent (FTE) enrollments were slightly higher in academic year 2024 than in 2023.
The report matters because enrollment drives state funding formulas, campus budgets and long‑term planning. Regents were shown detailed, systemwide data on demographics, delivery methods and student preparation that board staff said will inform strategic planning and performance agreements.
Across the 32 public institutions in the system, headcount rose 1.4% year‑over‑year and FTE rose 1.8%. Those short‑term gains come against a longer decline from the system peak (2012): headcount is down about 14.6% and FTE about 13.6% from that earlier high.
Key figures and patterns from the presentation: - Resident students fell 18.3% over 10 years (from roughly 207,000 to 169,000 on a headcount basis). Nonresident enrollments increased but did not offset resident declines. - Community colleges experienced the largest declines: resident headcount at community colleges has dropped nearly 31% over the decade. Technical colleges have grown markedly; their system headcount increased about 48.5% over the same period. - Age and student type shifts: enrollments for students under 20 rose more than 23%, while adult cohorts (ages 25–34) fell. Graduate enrollments were the only subgroup to rise over the 10‑year span (about +9%). - Race/ethnicity: Hispanic student headcount rose about 41%; Asian enrollments rose roughly 5%. White and Black/African American headcounts declined (about 21% and 24%, respectively). - Pell‑eligible student counts increased in 2024 after prior declines; the system attributed some of that to changes in need‑based aid and the state Promise scholarship. - Reverse transfer: Board staff reported 785 associate degrees awarded systemwide over the past five years through reverse‑transfer efforts; institutions will begin using the National Student Clearinghouse in fall 2025 to streamline transcript exchange. - Distance education: Total credit hours delivered via distance education rose 13.1% over five years to roughly 3.6 million credit hours in AY2024. State universities accounted for over half of distance‑education credit hours; community colleges delivered about 40.5%. - Retention and course load: One‑year fall‑to‑fall retention improved across the system (systemwide up about 3.8 percentage points over 10 years). Board staff noted that only about 54% of full‑time undergraduates at state universities enroll in 30 or more credits per academic year—an indicator relevant to four‑year graduation pacing. - College readiness: ACT benchmark attainment for Kansas high school graduates remains below the national average in multiple subject areas; board staff flagged persistent gaps by family income and race/ethnicity.
Regents asked questions about the so‑called enrollment "cliff," the role of high school dual enrollment in two‑year college counts, and whether improved retention and graduation rates suggested campus interventions were offsetting lower precollege preparedness. Board staff and several regents said that while the system is seeing modest recent recovery, longer‑term shifts in birth rates and changing college‑going patterns remain a concern.
Board staff emphasized that much of the short‑term progress is uneven across sectors: technical colleges and some universities are adding students, while community colleges and certain resident cohorts continue to decline. The report will feed into upcoming performance agreement work for 2027–29 and campus strategic planning.
The presentation concluded with staff noting newly required .gov URLs for Board sites and the forthcoming switch to the National Student Clearinghouse for reverse transfer in fall 2025.
Heading into questions, Regent Winter asked whether the projected high school graduate declines predicted by regional forecasters (WICHE) would materially change system planning; board staff replied that the decline projections remain a significant unknown and that campuses’ local recruiting and retention efforts will affect how sharply statewide enrollments change.
