Kent State University’s enrollment is up this spring semester at both its Kent and regional campuses, while graduate and international program enrollment continues to decline. The university’s 15th-day enrollment numbers were released Friday, Jan. 31.
The Kent Campus added 184 students, about a 0.8% increase, while regional campuses added 412 students for a 3.1% increase. Including full-time equivalents, which account for part-time student hours, Kent Campus added 139.3 students, and regional campuses added 46.3.
The spring enrollment numbers are higher than last spring, said Vice President for Enrollment Management Sean Broghammer. The 15th-day enrollment numbers provided the university with insight into enrollment trends on campus.
“We are ahead over last year’s enrollment as a university, about 0.7%,” Broghammer said.
Kent State’s graduate programs, on the other hand, declined across the board, with full-time equivalent enrollment dropping by 266.7 students. International graduate programs, including the master’s program, lost 292 students.
“In the fall of ‘23, we enrolled about 300 new graduate international students, and not that we didn’t plan on it, but it was a bit unexpected,” Broghammer said.
Approximately 2,201 international students from 100 countries are currently enrolled at Kent State.
This trend is interesting, as 634 international master’s students enrolled in 2023, followed by 974 in 2024. Enrollment dropped again in 2025.
“We believe the increase to be attributed to coming out of the pandemic, even though it was a year or two removed, there was this kind of pent-up energy,” Broghammer said. “Those students enrolled, and we didn’t replace the same enrollment for fall ’24. This past fall, we saw a reduction that carried over to the spring.”
Armaan Chugh, a freshman international student from India studying business analytics, heard about Kent State in a Facebook ad. Chugh is involved on campus as the treasurer of the CEO Club and works at a restaurant in the Student Center.
“Especially for international students, they were offering a great scholarship that even I got benefited with, and so did undergrad and master students,” Chugh said.
He said he is excited about what the next 3 years at Kent will offer.
Salma Benhaida, the director of International Recruitment and Admissions at Kent State, thinks the university has experienced increased enrollment from international students post-COVID. India is the top country for international student enrollment at Kent.
“Some of that has sustained up till now, but some programs in some countries have not been as sustainable, and this typically happens with India,” Benhaida said. “We had a huge increase in our master’s program, and the majority of that increase was from India.”
As of now, Chugh hasn’t decided if he is going to pursue a master’s program with the Kent State School of Business but said it would be a great option for him.
Abigail Kress is a reporter. Contact her at akress6@kent.edu.