College enrollment is up; Arizona high school graduates’ educational attainment remains low

Total enrollment at Arizona’s public universities reached historic highs in fall 2023, but even with the growth, just 30 percent of Arizona high school graduates completed a college degree or certificate program within six years, according to two new reports released by the Arizona Board of Regents.

The Academic Year 2024 Fall Enrollment Report reflects enrollment at Arizona’s public universities, while the 2023 Postsecondary Attainment Report measures Arizona high school graduates’ postsecondary enrollment and completion, wherever they choose to attend.

Enrollment at Arizona’s public universities is an integral component of advancing the state’s goal to increase educational attainment — the percentage of adults who earn a college degree. Flatlined attainment is a growing concern when Arizona needs 26,300 more bachelor’s degrees annually to support the state’s economy.

A bright spot in the Fall Enrollment Report shows the universities welcoming the highest number of Pell-eligible students (57,793), 54.8 percent of whom are Arizona residents. While the number of low-income Arizona students attending college is on the rise, demonstrating the success of the Arizona Promise Program, it still has not matched pre-pandemic highs. The Arizona Promise Program provides a guaranteed scholarship for qualifying low-income Arizona students that ensures all tuition and fees are covered at Arizona's public universities.

“It’s clear that Arizona is seeing a modest improvement in college enrollment and completion, but we are still not meeting the mark when it comes to postsecondary attainment for our high school graduates,” said ABOR Chair Fred DuVal. “This chronic, low rate of educational attainment limits our students’ upward mobility and is a recipe for our state’s future economic stagnation.”

Key fall enrollment takeaways:

• Total enrollment at Arizona’s public universities is up, largely due to online enrollment increases.
• Arizona State University saw historic enrollment in fall 2023 with 145,655 students — up 2 percent from the year before. 
• Arizona residents now comprise 70.3 percent of Northern Arizona University’s undergraduate students, an increase of 3.2 percent from the previous year. 
• Fall 2023 enrollment at the University of Arizona is the largest and most diverse in its history with 77,353 students, a 56.6 percent increase from the prior year. 

Learn more about fall enrollment at Arizona’s public universities here. 

Key postsecondary takeaways for Arizona’s high school graduates:

• Forty-eight percent of Arizona’s 2022 high school graduates pursued education beyond high school, while 30.3 percent of Arizona’s 2017 high school graduates were able to successfully complete a certificate, credential or college degree.
• Arizona’s high school graduates’ postsecondary completion trends are moderately increasing.
• Arizona graduates from historically underrepresented populations enroll in higher education at lower rates than peers.
• Arizona’s public universities enrolled more than two-thirds of Arizona high school graduates that chose a four-year degree program.

 Find out more about college-going and completion rates for Arizona’s high school graduates here.