3 Takeaways From Spring Enrollment Data

Spring 2026 enrollment trends largely mirrored those from the fall, with modest gains in undergraduate enrollment while graduate enrollment stayed about level with the previous spring. Here are three key takeaways from the newest data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.

1. The number of master’s degree candidates fell.

Though graduate enrollment remained steady, the number of students pursuing a master’s degree specifically declined 1.3 percent, representing 26,000 students, according to the NSCRC data, published Thursday. Master’s program enrollment peaked in fall 2024 before beginning to decline; the cause of that decrease is unclear, but some have postulated that the value of a master’s degree has diminished as they become increasingly common. Research has also shown poor return on investment for some master’s programs.

The decline may only grow starker after the parts of One Big Beautiful Bill Act go into effect on July 1, capping graduate student loans and ending Grad PLUS loans. Graduate degrees broadly have become significantly more expensive over the past several decades, with tuition and fees growing over 200 percent from 2000 to 2020.

As in the fall, international graduate enrollment also fell this spring, which also may have contributed to the decline in master’s degree candidates: The majority of international graduate students in the U.S. pursue master’s degrees.

2. Community college enrollment is increasing, but not evenly.

Over all, community college enrollment kept growing this spring, but growth was highest—5.5 percent—among what the clearinghouse referred to as “high-transfer” two-year institutions, where the majority of programs are designed for students who want to transfer to a four-year college and complete their bachelor’s.

At “high-vocational” institutions, where most students receive a vocational degree that is intended to be fully completed in two years and do not transfer, enrollment also grew, but less, increasing 2.8 percent year over year.

“High-transfer” institutions enroll the highest share of community college students (46.5 percent), followed by “mixed-transfer” institutions (34.3 percent). “High-vocational” institutions enroll just under 20 percent of all community college students.

This indicates that even as vocational degrees grow in popularity, students also continue to see community colleges as a reliable pathway to a bachelor’s, said Matthew Holsapple, senior research director at NSCRC.

3. Health professions and engineering are the fastest-growing fields.

For the third spring in a row, the number of undergraduates studying the health professions has surged, increasing 6.2 percent at four-year colleges compared to last spring. Engineering grew even more, at 6.8 percent. Health care and engineering are the second and third most popular fields for students at four-year undergraduate institutions, after business.

The number of undergraduates studying health care at four-year institutions also surpassed a million for the first time this spring. Within the umbrella of health care, nursing is by far the most popular major, making up more than half of all health-care students, with 514,000 individuals studying nursing at four-year colleges.

As in the fall, computer science enrollment declined this spring, dipping 8.4 percent.