Sep 7, 2019 1 min read

CALIFORNIA – California University of Pennsylvania anticipates another drop in enrollment as it welcomes a freshman class with a higher academic profile.

The university recorded an undergraduate enrollment this month of 4,865 students.

“We’re very pleased with the academic caliber of the incoming class,” Cal U. spokeswoman Christine Kindl said. It’s the fourth consecutive year the university has increased its academic profile, she said.

The first-year students have an average high school grade-point average of 3.27 this fall, exceeding the average of 3.17 for incoming students last year, Kindl said.

Cal U. also experienced an enrollment decline last term in a trend that is happening throughout most of the State System of Higher Education, said Washington County Commissioner Larry Maggi, a member of the university’s council of trustees.

He said the student loan crisis is steering students away from college, while others are opting for jobs in the natural gas or trucking industries.

“It’s everyplace in the state system. Less kids are going to college,” Maggi said.