Pa. state universities show another decline in enrollment

Enrollment in Pennsylvania's 14 state universities declined again this fall, dropping 1.9 percent, the system reported Wednesday.

The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education currently enrolls 105,051 students, down from 107,126 last fall. Enrollment in the system has been falling since 2010, when nearly 120,000 students were enrolled.

Lock Haven saw the largest percentage decline, 8.4 percent. Indiana University of Pennsylvania lost the most students, 661 - a 4.8 percent decline.

Two bright spots for the system were the Philadelphia area state universities, Cheyney and West Chester.

Cheyney, a historically black school, saw an increase in enrollment of 4.9 percent or 35 students, for a total of 746. Over the last six years, the financially-strapped university had lost more than half of its enrollment.

West Chester, the largest university in the system, had another stellar year, increasing its enrollment 2.4 percent to just over 17,000 students.

Slippery Rock was the only other university in the system with an increase this fall. East Stroudsburg University was flat. And the rest — Bloomsburg, California, Clarion, Edinboro, Kutztown, Mansfield, Millersville and Shippensburg — showed drops.