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With Jason Wingard as president, Temple enrollment has fallen. But it’s a challenge most colleges nationwide are facing.

Overall college enrollment nationally and across Pennsylvania continued to decline this year, although less than previous years.

The Bell Tower at Lenfest Circle on the campus of Temple University, pictured on Wednesday.
The Bell Tower at Lenfest Circle on the campus of Temple University, pictured on Wednesday.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer

Temple University has faced a tumultuous few years, with enrollment falling and campus safety issues on the rise.

As recently as this month, the Temple Association of University Professionals, the faculty union, planned to hold a vote of no confidence in university leadership, including Jason Wingard, the university president who resigned on Tuesday.

Wingard, a former Columbia University dean who was Temple president for less than two years, said “that too much focus is on me rather than the challenges we seek to overcome.” He had said last week he planned to pause work on other initiatives to focus on campus safety and enrollment.

Both graduate and undergraduate enrollment has been falling at the school in recent years — down 14% since 2019.

But the school is not alone in its fight to stop the losses.

Overall college enrollment nationally and across Pennsylvania continued to decline this year. Locally, though, Temple’s drop in overall enrollment from last school year to this year was greater than some of its peers at 6.4%. Overall enrollment at Drexel University was down 1.6%. La Salle University was about the same, and it was up at St. Joe’s, but that was solely attributed to its merger with the University of the Sciences last summer.

» READ MORE: Here are fall 2022 enrollment numbers for Philly-area colleges and universities

Inquirer reporter Susan Snyder contributed to this report.