Student enrollment at several colleges and universities in Spokane County has been flat or slowly increasing in the last two years after pandemic-era declines, but leaders at some institutions contend that the higher education environment in Spokane is generally healthy.

To maintain admission trajectory, many higher education institutions here now are focusing on student retention to increase future enrollment.

Student admissions are projected to be similar to fall 2025 enrollment for full-time, degree-seeking students at Spokane Community College, Spokane Falls Community College, Eastern Washington University, and Gonzaga University, representatives of the organizations say.

The Washington Student Achievement Council, an agency that oversees higher education, reported in January that degree-seeking undergraduate enrollment has steadily decreased statewide since 2020 — from over 100,391 students to a low of 90,939 in 2024. Last fall, enrollments rose to 91,702, indicating a possible long-term enrollment recovery in the state, according to the council.

Eastern Washington University

Eastern Washington University measures student enrollment both quarterly and by semesters, says Jens Larson, associate vice president for enrollment management at the university. Enrollment figures for the fall semester are relatively solid, Larson contends, but figures for the fall quarter are difficult to estimate.

EWU’s total headcount by semester hovered around 12,200 students between fall semester 2015 and fall 2019, before dipping to 10,846 in fall 2021, says Larson. Enrollment landed at 10,491 in fall 2024 and declined to 9,922 in fall 2025, he says.

“We’ve seen fewer students enrolling in higher education generally in Washington, so college going is down across the state in the last five years or so. All of that ends up impacting institutions differently,” says Larson. “The way that it looks at EWU is that we've seen some changes in our incoming student population.”

Larson attributes the decrease at EWU to a statewide and national decline of international student enrollments.

According to an International Student Enrollment report published by the nonprofit Institute of International Education in November 2025, new international student enrollment decreased by 17% nationally, and 57% of reporting colleges and universities indicated a decrease in new enrollments.

“Eastern used to have a pretty sizable international community, and that has changed over time,” Larson says.

Larson also notes EWU’s enrollment numbers are more dependent on transfers from community college students who are seeking degrees, and those students transferring to EWU has been decreasing. 

This fall semester, EWU is anticipating a 1% increase in student enrollment, to an estimated 10,000 students, Larson says. The university is focusing on retention efforts including facility investments, such as the $110 million updates at the Science Building. Additionally, the university is focused on the Washington Guaranteed Admissions Program, which simplifies the enrollment process for students and has helped support enrollment.

The university also serves an estimated 25,000 early-college high school and dual-credit students across Eastern Washington, which isn’t included in reporting, Larson adds.

Spokane Community College

Spokane Community College President Jenni Martin says 10,042 degree-seeking, full-time students were enrolled during the 2024-2025 school year. Before the pandemic, attendance averaged about 10,500 students.

Martin contends that several of the school’s workforce programs have recovered to prepandemic levels. Immediately after the pandemic, the school’s trade programs and health programs, including nursing, radiology, sonography, and other programs experienced an increase in attendance because students had spent the first two years of the program at SCC before transferring to another university to complete it.

Enrollment in noncredit and non-degree-awarding programs remain depressed from 2020 and 2021 figures, she adds.

“People are reengaging in education in a way that slowed down during COVID,” Martin says. 

Next month, as fall classes begin, Martin says she expects full-time, degree-seeking student enrollment to be slightly higher than last year.

Spokane Falls Community College

At Spokane Falls Community College, degree-seeking student enrollment has recovered to within 10% of prepandemic levels and has since leveled off in the last two years, says Patrick McEachern, interim president at SFCC.

In the last three years, attendance has climbed from 4,968 degree-seeking students in 2023 to 5,553 as of the 2025 fall quarter, he says.

“We had explosive growth over the five-year period, and now we’re in a period where we're sustaining that momentum,” McEachern says. “We had relatively flat enrollment last year from the prior year, and right now for fall quarter, we're trending in that same direction.”

McEachern is projecting fall 2026 admissions to be about 5,600, similar to the school's 2025 enrollment rate.

Gonzaga University

For the fall 2025 semester, Gonzaga University reported 6,875 full-time equivalent students, a 495-student drop compared to fall 2024 enrollment, according to data from the university. Fall student enrollment totaled 7,180 in 2023; 7,017 in 2022; and 7,800 in 2021. Prepandemic enrollment figures were around 7,300 consistently, according to the university.

While incoming student admissions in 2025 were lower than previous years, it’s within the university’s typical enrollment range, explains Stephen Keller, dean of admission at Gonzaga. Keller says fall 2026 new student enrollment is expected to be higher than in 2025. 

Final enrollment information will be available in September, he adds.

Washington State University-Spokane

Fall enrollment at WSU-Spokane’s health education-focused campus has steadied to about 1,200 after a decline from 1,727 students in 2020, according to the university’s enrollment dashboard. In 2025, fall enrollment was 1,218; 1,220 students in 2024; and 1,281 in 2023.

In an email to the Journal, WSU Assistant Vice Provost for Academic Administration Hailey James says WSU’s Spokane campus primarily serves students pursuing health sciences degrees and doesn’t enroll large cohorts of first-year students as other universities do. Enrollment patterns are influenced by factors unique to health professions, she adds.

Because several WSU Spokane programs operate under accreditation-required enrollment caps, enrollment figures may not reflect student demand or broader recruitment trends, she contends. Fall 2026 enrollment numbers will be available at the beginning of September, James adds.

Whitworth University didn’t respond to the Journal’s request for comment by press time. Whitworth's fall 2025 enrollment was about 2,400 total students, according to the North Spokane institution's website.