New Jersey, New York send more students to Indiana University in 2023

The fall 2023 semester marked another year of record enrollment at Indiana University, with 47,527 students enrolled in the Bloomington campus. The IU Bloomington student population has increased more than 9% in the past five years.

As IU has grown, who is enrolling has shifted. According to IU’s annual enrollment survey, New England states, including New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts, have nearly doubled in enrollment at IU. Enrollment from neighboring midwestern states such as Illinois, Wisconsin and Ohio has remained relatively stable.

Several western states also sent more high school graduates to IU. Texas rose from IU’s No. 9 most-enrolled state to No. 8, and both Nevada and Colorado nearly doubled their enrollment.

The changes reflect not only a continuing trend at IU of fewer homegrown Hoosiers enrolling – between 2018 and 2023, the share of in-state students fell from 52% to 48% of the student body – but suggest a shift in the university’s national presence, appealing to regions outside of the Midwest in ways previously not seen, aside from highly populous states like New York, California and Texas.

Growth in enrollment from New England

The increase in enrollment from New England is most likely a result of high costs of tuition in the region. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), between 2020 and 2021, the New England region made up eight of the 10 states with the highest cost of in-state tuition in the country, with Vermont, New Hampshire and Connecticut charging the most.

According to NCES, in-state tuition in Vermont, New Hampshire and Connecticut ranges from $28,000-$30,000 a year, and out-of-state costs range from $32,000-$41,000. Out-of-state tuition at IU is approximately $40,000 a year, according to IU’s cost calculator.

A 2019 report by the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee found those same three New England states experienced some of the highest rates of “brain drain” – defined in the report as the share of highly educated adults who leave their birth state minus the share of adults who remain – in the country.

Stagnancy and decline in the Midwest

While enrollment at IU from New England states grew in recent years, growth from Midwestern states remained relatively slow, and in some cases even declined.

IU's most-enrolled states between 2018 and 2023

Enrollment growth coming from Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky and Wisconsin was less than 20%, with Ohio falling from IU's No. 5 most-enrolled state in 2018 to No. 7 in 2023.

Two Midwestern states saw comparatively significant growth at IU; Michigan grew in enrollment by approximately 45% between 2018 and 2023, and Minnesota grew by 51%. Michigan also rose from IU’s No. 7 most-enrolled state to No. 6.

Record enrollment for Indiana

Though increases to IU’s out-of-state and international attendance has decreased the overall share of Indiana residents in the student population, IU is still achieving record enrollment from Indiana residents themselves. In fall 2023, IU enrolled 9,550 new undergraduates, a record-breaking 5,161 of whom were from Indiana.

Between 2018 and 2023, IU’s in-state undergraduate enrollment increased by more than 3%, with students coming from all 92 of Indiana’s counties.

However, IU’s in-state graduate enrollment has continued to fall in recent years. In fall 2023, IU enrolled 2,950 graduate students from Indiana, more than 20% less than in 2018.

Reach Brian Rosenzweig at brian@heraldt.com.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Where do the 2023 Indiana University students call home?