QUEENS COLLEGE–Since reaching a record high enrollment of 19,923 students in Fall 2019, Queens College has experienced a continuous decline in the total number of enrolled students.
“The number one priority we have, which is enrollment, enrollment, enrollment. We’re above 16,000 again. We need that to be at least over 19,000. I have an aspirational stretch goal of 20,000, but if we can get above 19,000 things will be well. 16,000, I’ll be honest with you, things aren’t as good as they should be,” said President Frank Wu at the Oct. 10, 2024 Academic Senate Meeting.
While QC attributes its enrollment decline to post-pandemic losses, QC’s Fall 2024 enrollment of 15,965 students is not on par with its goal of 20,000 students. So what do these numbers mean for QC services, and what strategies are being used to increase enrollment?
In Fall 2019, QC’s enrollment rose to 19,923 students — the highest it had been in 6 years. Then from Fall 2020 to Fall 2021, with the COVID-19 pandemic, enrollment declined on average among CUNY’s undergraduate senior colleges.
According to QC Provost Patricia Price at the Feb. 13 Academic Senate meeting, QC experienced a 19% loss in student enrollment since the Fall 2020 semester.
