Over the last two years, undergraduate enrolment is down by 6.6%, or more than a million students, according to data published Jan 13 by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Centre.

This decline in undergraduate enrolment was noticed long before the pandemic.

But the Covid crisis has helped to reinforce the phenomenon, forcing thousands of low-income students to drop out. At community colleges, enrolment has dropped 13.2% in the past two years.

But all types of universities are affected by the drop in students, such as private, non-profit four-year institutions, which have seen a 6.2% drop in enrolment.

“Our final look at fall 2021 enrolment shows undergraduates continuing to sit out in droves as colleges navigate yet another year of Covis-19,” said Doug Shapiro, Executive Director of the National Student Clearinghouse Research Centre, in a statement.

On a more positive note, freshman enrolment figures were up 0.4% – or 8,100 students – from 2020 to 2021.