NJ Schools Suffer Enrollment Decline due to COVID

By Julia Strugala | Published by December 20, 2021

          The pandemic has taken a toll on colleges throughout the country, creating multi-million dollar budget gaps due to a decline in enrollment and other issues caused by the deadly virus. 

          According to the National Student Clearinghouse, Undergraduate enrollment in the fall of 2020 declined by 3.6% from the fall of 2019 in schools all across the country. 

The university’s enrollment increased by 337 students in the fall 2020 semester, according to Kean University’s Student Profile. But this year, the university lost 645 students in Fall 2021 compared with the same period a year prior.  

Kean’s Union campus enrollment experienced a decline from 12,151 to 10,810 and lost 1,341 students from the 2020 fall semester to the current 2021 semester. Kean Ocean lost 258 students over the same period, going from 1,156 to 898 students and Kean online students increased by 294.

Kean Wenzhou, the university’s China campus, has also gained students. 660 new students joined with an overall headcount of 3,459 attending the fall 2021 semester compared to 2,799 in the fall 2020 semester. 

The university did not comment on the decline in enrollment as well as what is planned to be done to increase it.

          Colleges, such as William Paterson University, experienced a major decline in the fall 2020 semester caused by the pandemic, as there was an 18.2% decline in incoming freshman and transfer students compared to the previous year and it was also reported that housing occupancy went from 70-80 percent down to 50.

Georgian Court University and Monmouth University experienced a heavy decline in enrollment during the fall 2020 semester with 7 percent fewer students than the previous fall semester. 

US enrollment data states that Monmouth University lost over $24 million in revenue as a result of enrollment being low and all sports being canceled for the 2020-2021 school year and student housing dropping by 40%. 

          Before COVID, their campus life averaged about 1,700 students, while now it is barely breaking 1,000. This is a result of the number of cases they experienced on campus- in October of 2020, there were 250 students quarantining. 

There were a variety of issues for first-time college students entering their freshman year, such as the lack of devices needed to take part in online classes, with many incoming freshmen not affording the supplies needed for Zoom classes, and finding it hard to focus on online courses at home that caused enough stress that led many to take a break from their education. 

Alex Beagan, a junior majoring in marketing, decided not to take time off during the pandemic.

          “For me, learning online does not affect me negatively. If anything, I learn better in the comfort of my own home, but for a lot of people, that is not the case. If I did not have the tools at home to continue my education or a quiet space to get my work done, I would have definitely leaned towards a semester off.” Beagan said. 

          Mahdieh Mohammadkhani, a junior at Rutgers University with a major in political science, said she found it difficult to justify the price of college while not receiving the best quality of education.

          “I chose to take a gap year mainly because I did not have a great experience with online school. Instead, I took the time to focus on an internship that will help me excel in my major. When the time is right for me, I will return to in-person classes. With a major like political science, my goal is to go to law school and I cannot rationalize doing class through Zoom and not absorbing the information,”  Mohammadkhani said. 

            Kean University is a huge commuter school, resulting in only 7% on-campus residents, averaging around 800 students living on campus, which is beneficial in a time like COVID-19 as fewer students living on campus may lead to a minimum number of cases.

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