Enrollment at the 10-campus University of Hawaii system increased this fall for the first time in a decade, defying a national trend that was made worse by the coronavirus pandemic.

UH-Manoa led the way with a 6% increase, achieving the largest first-year class in the university’s history and the institution’s highest overall enrollment since 2014.

Three other UH campuses saw enrollment increases: UH Hilo (2.5%), Leeward Community College (0.8%) and Windward Community College (3.8%).

While overall enrollment at UH’s seven community colleges is down 3.2%, they still fared better than their counterparts on the mainland, where two-year colleges saw a 9.5% drop in fall 2020 and spring 2021.

Total enrollment across the UH system reached 49,773 in the fall, a 0.4% increase over the previous fall semester and the first increase in the system’s fall headcount since 2011.

But the standout was the system’s flagship campus, which posted a student population of 19,098 while absorbing 1,000-plus new students for the current semester — the largest enrollment increase since 2003.

“It’s pretty incredible,” UH-Manoa Provost Michael Bruno said. “A 1,000-student increase is not just bucking a national trend, that’s just really remarkable.”

Manoa welcomed its largest first-time freshman class at 2,939 students, a 34% increase from fall 2020 and the fourth straight freshman class with more than 2,000 students.

Enrollment, officials said, was up in nearly every category including resident, continental U.S, transfer and international students.

Graduate enrollment increased by 5%, the fourth consecutive jump in fall enrollment, with research doctoral enrollment up 7.5% and masters enrollment up 5.3%.

Enrollment of Native Hawaiian students increased 2.3% at Manoa to 2,770, representing 14.5% of the campus’s student body in fall 2021, officials said.

Bruno credited the university’s enrollment management team for strategically spreading the word here, on the mainland and elsewhere about the benefits of a UH-Manoa education.

“The messaging to the local students was that we have one of the top research universities right here. Why not stay home?” he said. “And we can do an even better job of telling about opportunities for students to be able to go overseas or to the continent for a semester. You can have the off-island experience while paying resident tuition and earning a valuable degree.”

The perception that Hawaii, and the Manoa campus in particular, has managed the pandemic better than most places may have played a role in the enrollment gains, Bruno said.

Nationally, enrollment in undergraduate and graduate programs has been trending downward since around 2012, according to the National Student Clearinghouse. But declines have worsened since the coronavirus pandemic swept across the nation in the spring of 2020.

At UH Hilo, enrollment growth was seen for the first time since 2012. The Hawaii island campus now has 3,243 students, including 459 first-time freshmen, the second-largest class since 2013 and only three students short of last year’s record freshman class.

Hilo also experienced a significant increase in transfer students — 20.8% — and in students who returned to finish their degrees after leaving school because of the pandemic, officials said.

While enrollment at UH West Oahu declined 5.1%, its fall enrollment of 3,008 remains historically high, the university said, as the Kapolei campus exceeded 3,000 students for the fifth straight fall semester.

Like community colleges on the mainland, the UH system’s two-year colleges endured another enrollment decline exacerbated by the pandemic.

The 24,424 students enrolled at its seven community colleges in fall 2021 represent a 3.2% decrease compared to fall 2020.

Erika Lacro, vice president for UH community colleges, said recessions typically bring enrollment surges to community colleges as people seek out training for new jobs. However, the COVID-19 pandemic presented challenges that ended up suppressing enrollment, including concerns about health, child and family care, financial uncertainty and navigating online learning, Lacro said.

And with the pandemic closing public schools, community college recruiters lost some opportunities to capture new students, she said.

Still, Lacro said, Hawaii’s community colleges fared better than their mainland peers, in part because of a strong partnership it maintains with the state Department of Education. Wind- ward and Leeward community colleges achieved gains due in part to their connections to high schools in their regions, she said.

Meanwhile, UH’s community colleges have bolstered their efforts to provide short-term job training in targeted areas. Officials said the two-year colleges provided 15,861 trainings in 2020-21 through noncredit, nondegree programs, many supported by federal and private funds.

The university also reported that local high-school students in the free Early College program increased by 3.4% over fall 2020. Across the state, 2,959 students are taking college courses and earning credits that also count toward their high-school degree in a program that is a partnership between UH and DOE and funded by the state Legislature.

—

University of Hawaii Fall 2021

Despite the downward trend of college enrollment during the pandemic, the number of UH students increased.

School Students Change

UH Manoa 19,098 6.0%

UH West Oahu 3,008 -5.1%

UH Hilo 3,243 2.5%

Hawaii Community College 2,248 -7.5%

Honolulu Community College 3,210 -5.0%

Kapiolani Community College 6,100 -4.2%

Kauai Community College 1,343 -8.1%

Leeward Community College 6,413 0.8%

UH Maui College 2,724 -7.2%

Windward Community College 2,386 3.8%

UH System total 49,773 0.4%