Arizona's three state universities combined to set a record for the number of students enrolled this fall, at the same time a new report showed low numbers of in-state students are attaining college degrees.

The dual reports, released by the Arizona Board of Regents, show total college enrollment hit 251,194 this fall, a 14.1% increase over fall 2022. Much of the growth was due to universities' efforts online, where 104,419 students were registered, according to the report.

The second report, however, shows the majority of Arizona high school students are not going on to postsecondary education, lagging below pre-pandemic numbers and well below national averages.

“It’s clear that Arizona is seeing a modest improvement in college enrollment and completion, but we are still not meeting the mark when it comes to postsecondary attainment for our high school graduates,” said ABOR Chair Fred DuVal in a press release. “This chronic, low rate of educational attainment limits our students’ upward mobility and is a recipe for our state’s future economic stagnation.”

The college enrollment jump was lead by the University of Arizona Global Campus, which saw a 32% increase in online enrollment.

Overall, Arizona State University remains the state's largest school, and one of the largest in the U.S., with an overall enrollment of 145,655. Online growth pushed ASU's enrollment higher as its on-campus enrollment declined by about 318 students compared with 2022, according to the report.

Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff reported total enrollment of 28,186 with undergraduate classes remaining stable after several years of declining numbers. The university is predominantly filled by in-state student, and this year it rolled out a program, Access2Excellence, that gives full tuition coverage to students whose annual family income is $65,000 or below.

University of Arizona in Tucson hit a enrollment high of 77,353 students, a 56.6% increase driven largely by new online students. On-campus students, however, were also up, with the undergraduate count rising 6.6% over the past year.

While enrollment is up, the number of students from Arizona attending postsecondary education is still down. Roughly 48.3% of high school graduates in 2022 went on to postsecondary education of some kind, up slightly from the 48.1% rate in 2021.

Those number were running 52.8% prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and are well short of the 62% national average many local leaders have sought to hit.

Local students aren't going to college in large numbers, and they aren't getting degrees within four to six years. According to the report, about 30.3% of the class of 2017 graduated from college after high school. Local leaders believe these numbers will hinder the state's economy.

To view the college enrollment report, click here. To view the postsecondary attainment report, click here.