First-year enrollment at Drexel falls 19%

First-year enrollment at Drexel University fell 19% this year, and the school said it will employ “a mix of permanent and one-time solutions to stay on track with its financial goals.”

That drop is larger than last year’s percentage decrease in first-time enrollment. The university did not detail what solutions it would use.

The decline comes as Drexel has been dealing with financial challenges and working on an overhaul of its academic programs.

University president Antonio Merlo in a statement to the campus community Friday attributed the decline to “shifting demographic trends and national challenges in international student enrollment” and said the school had “proactively aligned its planning and budget to reflect that projection.”

» READ MORE: Drexel’s new president says he’s ready to focus on the school’s academic overhaul

But its acceptance rate also could have played a role. Drexel accepted about 70% of applicants for this fall, down from 79.4% last year. And a smaller percentage of those admitted chose Drexel: This fall, just 7.2% enrolled, compared to 8% last year.

This year’s first-year class numbered 1,918, down 451 from last year’s 2,369. The first-year class is down nearly a third from 2021 when 2,831 enrolled.

» READ MORE: Drexel University is consolidating schools and asking several deans to step down

First-year international students fell by 36% to 212 this year, the school reported. Transfer students also declined from 580 to 499.

A Drexel spokesperson declined to address the change in acceptance rate or answer other questions about the numbers.

Drexel’s overall enrollment only declined a little over 1%, from 21,153 to 20,868 this year, said spokesperson Britt Faulstick. A 7.6% increase in graduate enrollment helped to offset the first-year student drop, Faulstick said.

» READ MORE: Drexel is cutting staff and benefits as it faces a $63 million operating loss and 15% fewer first-year students

Drexel’s student newspaper, The Triangle, reported that two residence halls and a dining center were closed for this year, as first-year student numbers fell.

Drexel laid off 60 employees last November as it coped with a $63 million operating loss and a decline in first-year students.

Merlo, who became Drexel’s president in July, said the school would continue its “academic transformation.” The school is undergoing a multiyear process to merge two of its colleges and a school, convert from a quarter system to semesters in 2027, and establish new core competencies. As part of that process, the university is redesigning every degree program to make sure those competencies are emphasized for all undergraduates.

He promised “a comprehensive analysis of our recruitment efforts” with the goal of developing “new strategies to deepen our outreach and engagement with prospective students.”

“Concurrently, Drexel’s leadership remains focused on strengthening the quality of the student experience and on evolving our budget model to a more sustainable framework better aligned with our long-term goals," he said.