Columbus State University Enrollment, 1959-2026

The current enrollment challenges facing CSU are a cause for concern across the institution's two campuses and beyond. To provide some historical context to what is going on now, Turner Business examined total enrollment at CSU from its beginnings as a two-year institution operating from a hosiery mill to its current position as a four-year university offering doctorate degrees. CSU's historical enrollment series is presented below, as depicted by fall enrollment reports provided by the University System of Georgia. As shown in the diagram, Columbus College took flight as a two-year institution enrolling several hundred students in the late 1950s. In 1963, the main campus in Midtown Columbus was established, a move that was followed by two years of robust enrollment growth. At the end of this period, in 1965, Columbus College became a four-year institution. Five years later, in 1970, the institution's first bachelor's degrees were awarded, and it began offering master's degrees. Robust enrollment growth occurred during this period, with the later event followed by the strongest enrollment growth in the history of the institution.

Columbus College's enrollment peaked by 1975, after which what could be termed as an enrollment crisis began. At the start, the institution enrolled a healthy 5,674 students. When the downturn ended in 1987, only 3,726 students remained. Thus, over nearly 1.5 decades the institution lost 34.3% of its students. The next year, however, Columbus College began the 2nd wave of Midtown Campus expansion, and enrollment would once again boom, rising to 5,534 students by the end of this period (i.e., 1988-1995). In 1996, Columbus College officially became Columbus State University. Interestingly, there was no enrollment bump due to an advertising effect associated with this change; in fact, enrollment fell steadily from 1996, when 5,536 students were enrolled, through 1999, when 4,911 students attended the institution. In 2010 Columbus State University began development of its RiverPark Campus in Uptown Columbus. As before with the 2nd wave of Midtown Campus expansion, enrollment rose, albeit at a decreasing rate, for several years. By the end of this period, Columbus State University enrolled 8,453 students, the zenith for the institution up to this point in its history. Enrollment wobbled a bit in the few years following this period when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Although enrollment has cycled a bit since the beginning of the pandemic, it has generally fallen since that event, including the current period of declining enrollment. Multiple CSU administrations have expressed a desire to reach an enrollment of 10,000 students. None has been able to achieve an enrollment of 8,500.