Paul Smith's College reports significant growth for Fall 2025, bucking national enrollment trends
The college celebrates double-digit growth in both new student and first-time student enrollment.
Paul Smiths, NY - 9/15/2025 (09/15/2025) — Paul Smith's College today announced its enrollment numbers for the Fall 2025 semester, marking a remarkable increase in size. Overall, new student enrollment has grown significantly, with first-time, full-time freshmen enrollment up by 30% compared to Fall 2024.
Paul Smith's College's surge in enrollment comes as private colleges nationwide have struggled with declining enrollment in recent years. Between 2010 and 2022, four-year private for-profit colleges lost about 55% of their enrollment. This increase in class size shows Paul Smith's College has defied those national headwinds and is charting a different course, emphasizing the demand for its hands-on, place-based education.
"Across the country, small colleges are the lifeblood of their regions, anchoring economies, educating local leaders and sustaining culture. Paul Smith's is no different," said Kathy Bonavist, executive vice president of advancement & enrollment. "What makes us stand out is that we've managed to buck the national trend, showing how a small, place-based college can remain vital by staying true to its purpose and its community. Our story is not just about Paul Smith's; it's about the enduring importance of colleges like ours everywhere."
More students and their families are actively seeking programs where graduates can build meaningful, future-proof careers, especially at a time when job security for new graduates is under pressure from rapid technological change. According to Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, 50% of today's entry-level jobs may be wiped out by AI. Paul Smith's College stands apart by preparing students for industries that are deeply human and in demand, such as environmental science, forestry, hospitality, culinary arts, natural resources, and fisheries and wildlife science.
By focusing on one-of-a-kind, hands-on programs tied to the natural world and applied sciences, Paul Smith's College attracts students who are passionate about their fields and graduate ready to contribute to their industries. Its experiential learning model, rooted in its 14,000-acre Adirondack campus, ensures students leave prepared to thrive in careers that value human expertise, adaptability and care.
"The national story is one of contraction: small colleges shuttering as demographics shift. Paul Smith's College offers a counterpoint," said Bonavist. "Here in the middle of a six-million-acre forest, we've shown that a rural college can defy the odds by leaning into place, made possible by a community that matched our ambition, and proving that small, purpose-driven institutions are not relics of the past but blueprints for the future."
For more information, please visit https://www.paulsmiths.edu/.
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