27% of college applicants to St. Joseph County’s 9 universities were admitted for fall 2022

St. Joseph County’s nine universities admitted an estimated 27% of applicants for fall 2022, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Of those who were admitted, 41.7% enrolled.

Of the nine institutions in the county, six provided detailed enrollment data at the time, including Bethel University, Saint Mary’s College and Indiana University-South Bend.

At least 32,817 people applied to St. Joseph County colleges in the 2022-23 school year.

NCES data shows that among them, around 21,023 students enrolled in the universities, including 15,993 in undergraduate and 5,030 in graduate programs. Only 3% of undergraduates transferred from another college or university.

The reported undergraduate student body is comprised mostly of white (63.7%) and Hispanic (14.9%) students.

Among the institutions that provided disclosed enrollment data, University of Notre Dame stood out with the largest enrollment at the time, welcoming 13,105 students.

U.S. college enrollment has been in a downward trend since peaking at around 18.1 million students in 2010. Recent increases offered some relief, but experts project a steeper decline in 2025.

This decline is likely due to two main factors. First, the pool of young adults is shrinking as birth rates have fallen nearly 23% between 2007 and 2022. Second, the rising cost of higher education, including skyrocketing student loan debt. A 2023 Wall Street Journal report shows that more than half of Americans think a four-year degree is not worth the cost.

NCES shows that enrollment data was not available for two institutions in St. Joseph County, including Purdue University – Purdue Polytechnic South Bend and Ivy Tech Community College-South Bend/Elkhart.

Some educational data is based on estimates. Shifting demographics among student populations can sometimes result in gender totals which do not equal 100%.