Enrollment at Kansas University and the other regents institutions increased this year, but systemwide there was a slight decrease in the number of students at public post-secondary institutions.

In total,184,403 students were enrolled in state universities, community colleges and technical schools, according to preliminary figures released Friday from the Kansas Board of Regents.

That is a slight decrease — less than 1 percent or 1,787 students — from the fall of 2013.

Enrollment at regents universities was up 1.47 percent. That included an increase of .72 percent at KU, which was the smallest increase of the six regents universities.

And enrollment at technical schools was up 6.32 percent, but community colleges saw a decrease of 4.34 percent.

“We are continuing to see this trend, where people have headed back to work instead of seeking out additional education and training at our state’s community colleges,” said Andy Tompkins, president and chief executive officer of the Kansas Board of Regents.

“It is completely expected that as the economy improves there is going to be a decrease in enrollment at our state’s community colleges, compared to the high enrollment numbers we saw during the last recession,” Tompkins said.

Including all its campuses, KU grew to 27,983, which was an increase of 199 students.

Of the regents universities, Wichita State University saw the largest increase with 451 more students, or 3.11 percent, to bring its campus total to 15,003.

Kansas State University enrolled 24,766 students, an increase of 185 from last year, or .75 percent.

KU officials noted that the enrollment figures show for the third straight year that the freshman class has grown.

The school has 4,084 new freshmen, an increase of 2.1 percent from last year.

“Trends for the last three years show us that more and more first-year students want to be part of a major public research university that consistently earns high rankings for its academic programs,” said KU Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little.

This year’s freshman class is also the most diverse in KU history. More than 23.6 percent are minority students, up from nearly 22 percent last year. The university’s nearly 2,500 international students set another record.

And KU reported that more than 16 percent of KU freshmen have an ACT score of 30 or higher.