West Massachusetts News

Berkshire County's six universities admitted an estimated 16% of applicants for fall 2022, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Of those who were admitted, 29.8% enrolled.

Of the six institutions in the county, three provided detailed enrollment data at the time, including Bard College at Simon's Rock, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and Williams College.

At least 16,931 people applied to Berkshire County colleges in the 2022-23 school year.

NCES data shows that among them, around 5,037 students enrolled in the universities, including 4,884 in undergraduate and 153 in graduate programs. In total 5.7% of undergraduates transferred from another college or university.

The reported undergraduate student body is comprised mostly of white (57.1%) and Hispanic (11%) students.

Among the institutions that provided disclosed enrollment data, Williams College stood out with the largest enrollment at the time, welcoming 2,222 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.

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

Institution	# of Applicants	# of Admitted Students	Total Enrollment
Mildred Elley-Pittsfield Campus	--	--	172
Charles H McCann Technical School	--	--	40
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts	1,456	1,340	938
Bard College at Simon's Rock	154	146	298
Berkshire Community College	--	--	1,367
Williams College	15,321	1,226	2,222