The rate of declining enrollment at Washington State University is slowing this fall while the student population in Pullman has dropped to levels not seen since the 90’s.
The WSU Regents received the official fall enrollment numbers during their meeting Thursday afternoon. Total systemwide enrollment is down nearly 4% this fall to 26,490 students. Officials noted the rate of enrollment decline is half what it was a year ago. Total WSU enrollment is down 16% since the record high that was set before the pandemic in the fall of 2019 at nearly 32,000 students. The WSU student population is down about 5,000 from the record. This is the lowest WSU systemwide enrollment since 2010. Administrators highlighted this fall’s freshman class which is the largest since the pandemic began.
Pullman campus enrollment is down at a higher rate than the system level dropping 4.4% from last year. The local student population is just over 17,000 students this fall which is the lowest since at least 1996. The Pullman student population set a record high in the fall of 2018 with just over 21,000. The local student body has dropped by about 4,000 down nearly 20% over the past 5 years.
