Undergraduate enrollment at Massachusetts public colleges and universities rose 2.2% this fall to nearly 176,000 students, according to preliminary state figures released Oct. 20.
The nine state universities recorded their first combined increase since 2013, rising 2.2% to 32,345 undergraduates. Community colleges grew 3.9% to 89,464 students, while University of Massachusetts undergraduate enrollment fell 0.6% to 54,179. The state announcement attributes the UMass decrease largely to the effects of federal policy changes on international enrollment.
The administration points to free community college, expanded financial aid and student support as part of its effort to increase access. The enrollment figures themselves do not isolate how much each policy contributed to the change.
More students also transferred into four-year public institutions. New transfer enrollment rose 16.6% at state universities and 3.8% at UMass compared with the previous fall, the Department of Higher Education reported.
The state's latest reported six-year completion rates were 34.4% at community colleges, 66.4% at state universities and 76.7% at UMass, with lower rates for Black and Hispanic or Latino students in each group.
The department plans further analysis of the transfer trends in the coming months.