Enrollment dips for second year at Georgia universities

The number of students fell for a second straight year at Georgia’s public colleges and universities, even as the state’s most prestigious universities kept growing.

While Georgia’s universities had outperformed the nation in enrollment for years, numbers dipped more sharply this year, falling 1.8%, compared to 1.1% fewer students nationwide tracked by the National Student Clearinghouse.

Angela Bell, the vice chancellor of research and policy analysis, attributed the decrease to several factors, including people passing up school for jobs, a smaller number of graduating high school students, and poorer academic achievement as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.