81.2% of college applicants to Spokane County’s 14 universities were admitted for fall 2022

Spokane County’s 14 universities admitted an estimated 81.2% of applicants for fall 2022, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Of those who were admitted, 20.5% enrolled.

Of the 14 institutions in the county, five provided detailed enrollment data at the time, including Great Northern University, Northwest HVAC/R Training Center and Eastern Washington University.

At least 18,708 people applied to Spokane County colleges in the 2022-23 school year.

NCES data shows that among them, around 31,885 students enrolled in the universities, including 26,042 in undergraduate and 5,843 in graduate programs. In total 5.2% of undergraduates transferred from another college or university.

The reported undergraduate student body is comprised mostly of white (61.4%) and Hispanic (13.2%) students.

Among the institutions that provided disclosed enrollment data, Eastern Washington University stood out with the largest enrollment at the time, welcoming 10,910 students.

U.S. college enrollment has been in a downward trend since peaking at around 18.1 million students in 2010. Recent increases offered some relief, but experts project a steeper decline in 2025.

This decline is likely due to two main factors. First, the pool of young adults is shrinking as birth rates have fallen nearly 23% between 2007 and 2022. Second, the rising cost of higher education, including skyrocketing student loan debt. A 2023 Wall Street Journal report shows that more than half of Americans think a four-year degree is not worth the cost.

NCES shows that enrollment data was not available for Washington State University-Spokane in Spokane County.

Some educational data is based on estimates. Shifting demographics among student populations can sometimes result in gender totals which do not equal 100%.