CSU President Stuart Rayfield Updates Campus on Concerning Enrollment Numbers

CSU President Stuart Rayfield corresponded with CSU faculty and staff yesterday about the increasingly worrisome enrollment trends at the university level. She noted that one month into fall semester 2026 has her turning attention to budget planning for next year, and that CSU's "financial picture depends heavily on . . . enrollment, which is why [there is always] talk about recruitment, retention and graduation . . ." CSU's Fall 2026 enrollment numbers will not be official until next month, but, according to Rayfield, "the data we track daily tells us that the gains we saw over the summer are now gone, and we will likely be down in overall student headcount again this semester. As of Friday, fall enrollment was just over 7,420 total students, down about 3% from the same day last year. This will impact this year’s budget and our budget for the next two years, based on the state’s higher education funding formula." Rayfield went on to state that the data affirm that "we are doing the right things to stabilize and grow enrollment at CSU over the long term . . .[, given that a]s of Friday, retention of first-time, full-time students was 75.6%, up 3.7% from last year . . . [and] that the number of new undergraduate students who started this fall is up by 6.94% over this day last year, including a 5.5% increase in first-year students." Still, there are other concerning trends. For example, Rayfield added that "[t]he frustrating part of these numbers is where we stand with returning students, which is down by more than 6% at both the undergraduate and graduate levels compared with this time last year . . .[, which] . . . tells me we are doing well at attracting students to Columbus State, but something happens after they get here that is causing many to leave before they complete their degrees." Research by Turner Business reveals that the official Fall 2025 enrollment count was 7,690 students, meaning that the current unofficial count is about 3.5% below last year's official count, with one month remaining in the current cycle. Our research also finds that the official Fall 2024 enrollment count was 7,937 students, which means that current enrollment is about 6.5% below that from two years ago.

The table above provides a look at the trends from the three most recent semesters. For example, Summer 2026 headcount enrollment fell by 4.7% compared to Summer 2025, so we aren't sure about the above statement that ". . . the gains we saw over the summer are now gone." Summer 2026 enrollments across the 26 USG institutions are addressed in our report from 1-Sept. Lastly, keep in mind that the percentage growth required to return to greater enrollment levels will be higher than the percentage reductions that led to the current situation. For example, CSU's headcount enrollment will have to rise from its current level of 7,420 by 7%, not 6.5%, to get back to the Fall 2024 enrollment count.