Master’s program enrollment fell 3.7% nationwide from 2025 to 2026, according to preliminary data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center (the Clearinghouse), but Stanford’s most recent data points the other way.

Master’s enrollment at Stanford rose from 3,276 students in 2024 to 3,398 in 2025, a 3.7% gain, according to data from the Office of Institutional Research and Decision Support (IR&DS). That figure is up 18% since autumn 2021. The University’s 2026 data has yet to be released.

The Clearinghouse research, published on Thursday, found total postsecondary enrollment roughly equal from fall 2025 to fall 2026. Undergraduate enrollment grew 0.6%, down from 2.4% growth from the previous year, while graduate enrollment fell 1.6%. Doctoral programs held close to steady (-0.5%). The master’s decline drove the graduate drop, and it is accelerating: master’s numbers slipped just 0.4% in 2025 from 2024.

Stanford’s growth in postsecondary degrees came from U.S. students. Master’s international enrollment held flat, moving from 1,218 to 1,220. Doctoral enrollment barely moved, slipping from 4,944 to 4,933.

Computer science tells a split story. Nationally, the Clearinghouse found enrollment in computer and information science down 12.4% at four-year colleges and 10.4% at the graduate level from the 2025 to 2026 school years.

At Stanford, undergraduate computer science enrollment fell from 791 to 639 between 2024 and 2025. This marked a 19% drop and placed computer science enrollment 26% below its peak of 865 students in 2023. Computer science master’s enrollment rose over the same period, from 620 in 2024 to 656 in 2025.

IR&DS counts students as of the fourth week of fall quarter. The University’s figures for this year will show whether Stanford’s master’s programs held up as the national decline deepened.

The Clearinghouse’s preliminary report drew on 46% of reporting institutions. Final fall 2026 numbers are due in January.