photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

The University of Kansas campus, pictured in September 2021.

Updated at 1:25 p.m. Thursday

A five-year enrollment slide at the University of Kansas’ main campus continued, new numbers released for the fall semester show.

Numbers from the Kansas Board of Regents on Thursday showed KU’s enrollment at its Lawrence campus did not bounce back to pre-pandemic levels, but rather declined slightly from the fall 2020 mark by one key metric.

But the report also shows that the enrollment slide wasn’t as steep as it has been in past years and that KU performed better than most other Regents universities.

Enrollment on KU’s Lawrence campus and its satellite Edwards Campus in Johnson County fell by 0.3%, when measured in terms of full-time equivalent students, the board reported. By that measure, KU had 20,552 students on the 20th day of fall classes this year, down 62 students from a year ago. Compared with the pre-pandemic period of 2019, KU is still down about 775 students at its Lawrence and Edwards campuses. Over the last five years, the campuses have seen their enrollments shrink 5%, or the equivalent of about 1,075 students.

But the numbers also highlighted another multiyear trend: the tale of two KUs.

While enrollment on the main campus continued to drop, enrollment at KU’s Kansas City-based medical school grew again, giving it one of the best five-year growth rates of any university in the state.

Enrollment at the KU Medical Center hit 2,801 full-time equivalent students, a 0.6% increase. Over the last five years, it has posted a 7.6% increase and has grown by about 200 students since 2016. Of all the Regents schools, only Wichita State has added more students.

When you add it all up, KU Chancellor Douglas Girod, who oversees both KU and the medical school, was fairly positive about the latest numbers.

“This year’s data indicate we have weathered the worst part of the pandemic, which speaks volumes of the work our faculty and staff have done to recruit, educate and support students during such an uncertain time,” Girod said in a statement.

Girod’s bosses at the Kansas Board of Regents weren’t as optimistic about the overall numbers for Kansas higher education. The entire public higher education system — which includes the major four-year universities plus a host of community colleges and technical schools — posted a 1.1% decline in full-time equivalent students. For the five-year period, enrollment is down 11%, or about 14,000 full-time equivalent students.

“The preliminary fall enrollment report brings mixed results and continues a systemwide trend in declining enrollment over the past five years,” Regents Chair Cheryl Harrison-Lee said in a statement. “We must reverse that trend to meet the workforce needs of our state.”

Back at KU, the chancellor’s office pointed to a nearly 8% increase in first-time freshmen enrollment and a nearly 12% increase in transfer students as other reasons to be optimistic about enrollment trends. However, those increases weren’t enough to prevent declines at the main campus.

However, there is one enrollment measurement that showed the main campus basically held steady from a year ago. In addition to releasing figures on full-time equivalent students, the Regents also released total headcount numbers, which count all students equally, regardless of how many credit hours they are taking.

By that measurement, KU’s Lawrence and Edwards campuses have 23,958 students, down six students from a year ago. KU released separate numbers that showed the Edwards Campus had growth of 58 students, meaning the Lawrence campus saw a decline of 64 students from a year ago.

Regardless, the Regents put more stock in the full-time equivalent number, in part because it has more of an impact on the financial health of the universities, as the schools derive a large part of their revenue from tuition that is based on the number of credit hours students take.

While praising the work KU employees did to limit pandemic losses, Girod did acknowledge the university is facing enrollment pressures.

“The reality is, even before the pandemic, we were facing the national context of declining college enrollment, along with flat or declining population here in the Midwest,” Girod said in a statement. “These challenges haven’t gone away, which is why the work we are doing to improve KU through initiatives such as the Jayhawks Rising strategic planning process is so important.”

Thursday’s report, though, does show that KU is weathering the downturn in enrollment better than most other Regents schools in the state. In particular, Kansas State University — the second-largest university in the state — saw its enrollment drop 3.4% compared to a year ago, in terms of full-time equivalent students. For the five-year period, enrollment is down more than 17%.

Here’s a look at the FTE enrollment totals for all the Regents schools, plus their one-year and five-year growth rates.

• Wichita State: 11,288 students; up 2.2% one year and up 2.1% over five years;

• KU: 20,522 students; down 0.3% one year and down 5% over five years;

• Kansas State: 16,057 students; down 3.4% one year and down 17.6% over five years;

• Emporia State: 4,066 students; down 5.8% one year and 11.6% over five years;

• Pittsburg State: 5,141 students; down 6.6% one year and 20.4% over five years;

• Fort Hays State: 8,488 students; down 8.7% one year and 7.2% over five years;

• KU Medical Center: 2,801 students; up 0.6% one year and up 7.6% over five years;

• KSU Veterinary Medicine: 778 students; up 6.6% one year and 9.8% over five years;

Here’s a look at other items from Thursday’s enrollment reports:

• KU was pleased with both the quality and diversity of its freshman class. Freshmen entered the university with an average high school GPA of 3.66, the highest on record for a freshmen class at KU. Plus, 25% of the freshmen are minority students, the second-highest percentage on record at KU. That’s slightly better than KU’s overall minority student rate of 24.1%.

• 84.8% of students who joined the university in 2020 returned for the the 2021 school year, the third-highest retention rate for that cohort. The two-year retention rate, which measures students who joined KU in 2019, was 78.3%, the highest on record.

• 53.5% of students who entered KU in 2017 graduated, the highest four-year rate on record. The five-year graduation rate grew to 64.9%, also a new high.

• International student enrollment grew 3.1%, or by 52 students, compared with fall 2020 totals.

The latest report also highlights a big-picture trend that is developing in Kansas. The growth of students who go to technical schools is far outpacing those who go to four-year universities. Enrollment at the six technical schools overseen by the Regents grew by 1% in terms of FTE students compared with a 2.4% decline in FTE students at four-year universities. Over the last five years, enrollment at technical schools is up 8.6% while enrollment at the four-year universities is down 8.6%. In terms of total people, regardless of full-time or part-time status, technical school enrollment is up 23% over the last five years.

Community colleges did see an increase in enrollment after suffering a big drop in 2020. The 19 community colleges overseen by the Regents saw enrollment increase to 36,233 FTE students, up 1.2% from a year ago. But over the last five years, enrollment is down 17.5%. Johnson County Community College remains the largest community college in the state by far. It has about 9,000 FTE students and a little more than 16,500 students overall. The school has lost about 2,500 students overall since 2016, the latest numbers show.