Enrollment Projections and Degree Estimates 2024-25 to 2029-30 , October Submissions

Enrollment Projections (Oct. 2025) |




Note: Institutions were asked to consider the following in this resubmission of their original enrollment projections. 1) The Western Interstate Compact for Higher Education (WICHE) in their 2024 projections of high school graduates, projected 91,213 graduates compared to 94,328 actual graduates from public high schools. The anticipated peak between now and 2029 is this year, with 95,937 graduates and a decline through 2033, with a peak in 2034 and continued decline to 83,941 in 2042. While typically these projections have been found to be conservative and understate the actual numbers below, staff is of the opinion that they may overstate the supply of high school graduates in that they may contain approximately 5% undocumented students each year, according to the Higher Education Immigratation portal. 2) Graduate PLUS loans are eliminated effective July1, 2026. The remaining federal graduate loan program now has annual limits of $20,500 for graduate students and $50,000 for professional students. The aggregate limit for graduate programs is now $100,000 and $200,000 for professional students. While there are no changes to existing undergraduate loan limits, there is now a lifetime limit of $275,000 on all federal loans. In 2023-24, this limit would have impacted at least 1,753 students/graduates who have federal loan totals in excess of the new limit to a maximum of $622,896.
Enrollment Projections - Grand Total, All Reporting Institutions
Low BoundProjectionHigh BoundLow BoundProjectionHigh BoundLow BoundProjectionHigh Bound
2024327,690 108,096 435,786
2025335,207 107,317 442,524
2026321,302338,366352,932 101,352106,723111,114 422,657445,089464,049
2027324,570341,843358,042 101,765107,266112,238 426,339449,109470,284
2028327,118345,272362,755 102,569108,407113,850 429,691453,678476,608
2029329,003347,793366,791 103,609109,742115,734 432,616457,534482,527
Enrollment Projections - Change in Enrollment
Low BoundProjectionHigh BoundLow BoundProjectionHigh BoundLow BoundProjectionHigh Bound
% Change2.4%6.1%3.9% 2.2%4.2%1.5% 2.4%5.0%4.0%