State College Enrollments Fall Slightly : Education: Figures follow national trends and show a strong comeback from last year. Officials partially credit economic recovery.

Mirroring nationwide trends, California’s two largest public higher education systems experienced only slight enrollment declines this fall, a strong reversal to the sharp drops of last year.

Enrollments in California’s community colleges fell 1.4% to about 1.36 million students, compared to a 9% loss in 1993, a spokesman said. California State University enrollments declined 1.9% to 319,394 students this fall, from a 6.3% drop the year before.

The results mirror those of a national report to be released today by the American Council on Education, the nation’s main higher education lobby. The council suggests that a similar pattern of moderation in enrollment losses has occurred this fall in their survey of selected states.

“Nationally, I think it’s slowing,” said David Merkowitz, a council spokesman. This fall, 11 of the 17 states with the most complete survey data reported overall enrollment declines, slightly fewer states than a year ago. Private school enrollments have increased in 12 of 18 states surveyed.

Merkowitz said the tallies released today account for about 40% of nationwide enrollment. Earlier this fall, however, the U.S. Department of Education, based on a sampling of actual institutions rather than selected states, forecast a new high of 14.7 million students, a slight increase over 1993. The department couched the numbers for both years as estimates.

Officials in California said the end to steep public enrollment losses this fall reflects the state’s economic recovery. Also, the state’s public higher education systems fared better financially this year after deep budget cuts earlier in the decade.

The enrollment declines had alarmed college and university educators, who feared that students were being shut out of the systems because of cutbacks in classes and higher fees. Historically, California has prided itself in providing some level of post-secondary education to any student who sought it.

The $390 per year in fees charged a full-time community college student is nearly four times the price of 1990. Cal State’s annual $1,584 fee is more than double 1990’s charge.

A year ago, total enrollments in California’s three public higher education systems--community colleges, Cal State and the University of California--fell 8% to 1.87 million, the largest drop in the nation, one study found. This fall, the total loss will probably be less than 2%.

Although the enrollment news is not as bad as in previous years, the new figures still mark the third consecutive year of enrollment declines for the 107-campus community college system, and the fourth straight year for the 20-campus Cal State system.

California’s community college enrollment hit its lowest level this fall since 1988, with about 1.33 million students. The Cal State system’s enrollment hit its lowest mark since 1984, when fall enrollment stood at 316,000, records show.

Among Cal State campuses in the region, Northridge suffered the largest loss, 10.9%, because of the January earthquake. The Long Beach, Fullerton, Pomona and San Bernardino campuses had small declines. The Los Angeles, Dominguez Hills and San Diego campuses had small gains.

Officials in the nine-campus UC system, which has also been hit with enrollment losses for the past three years, could not be reached to provide their fall enrollment figures.