Freshmen college enrollment increased in fall 2024, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center said — contrary to its previous report that the enrollment declined.

A “methodological error” in the preliminary enrollment report, released in October, caused the miscalculation, Executive Director Doug Shapiro said in a statement Monday.

“The error in research methodology caused the mislabeling of certain students as dual-enrolled rather than as freshmen and, as a result, the number of freshmen was undercounted, and the number of dual-enrolled was overcounted,” Shapiro wrote.

Because of the error, the October report showed a decline in freshmen enrollment at both two- and four-year institutions. It also showed an even steeper drop in freshmen student enrollment at four-year colleges where large shares of students receive Pell Grants.

CNBC had included the original, erroneous data in several articles, which can be found here, here, here, here, here and here.

“Our subsequent research finds freshman enrollment increased this fall,” Shapiro wrote. He said the new research “is not based on preliminary data … and uses different methodologies to determine freshman enrollees.”

The final freshmen enrollment numbers will be released Jan. 23, the center said.

More from Personal Finance:
Health-care jobs are in demand in 2025
How much if any bitcoin should you own?
Nearly half of credit card users are carrying debt

Shapiro said the center is “conducting a thorough review to understand the root cause [of the error] and implement measures to prevent such occurrences in the future.”

Revised data shows a 3% rise in overall undergraduate enrollment in the fall compared with that period in 2023, according to the center’s updated analysis. Enrollment was also higher at four-year colleges where large shares of students receive Pell Grants.

“We are encouraged and relieved that updated data from the National Student Clearinghouse shows freshman enrollment is up this school year,” U.S. Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal said in a statement.

“The increase is consistent with what we are seeing on the financial aid side: More than 5% more students are receiving federal aid this year,” Kvaal said. 

Some experts had warned that problems with the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid could result in fewer students applying for financial aid and fewer students enrolling in college.

However, because of changes to the FAFSA, more students can now qualify for a Pell Grant, a type of aid that is awarded based solely on financial need.

The U.S. Department of Education released the FAFSA for 2025-26 ahead of schedule, saying it did so with the goal of improving college access.

Overall, total college application volume through Dec. 1 rose 8% for the 2024-25 application season, compared with a year earlier, according to the latest data from the Common Application, an online college application platform.

Kantrowitz, who is not affiliated with the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, said an error on the part of the research group was “very rare.”

Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube.

Nearly 85,000 people will get their federal student debt forgiven through the U.S. Department of Education’s Borrower Defense Loan Discharge program. People may be eligible for the option if their school closed while they were enrolled or if they were misled by their school or didn’t receive a quality education.

More from Personal Finance:
How much, if any, bitcoin should you own?
Prices of top 25 Medicare Part D drugs have doubled
Nearly half of credit card users are carrying debt

The Education Department said it had approved group discharges for 73,600 students who attended schools owned by the Center for Excellence in Higher Education, including Independence University and California College San Diego. The $1.15 billion in debt forgiveness will go to borrowers who attended these institutions between Jan. 1, 2006 and Aug. 1, 2021, the Education Department said.

Another 11,000 borrowers will get their student debt canceled if they attended any location of Drake College of Business between Jan. 1, 2008 and July 31, 2015, when the school closed. That debt cancellation totals $107 million.

Lastly, 280 borrowers who enrolled in the Criminal Justice Program at Lincoln Technical Institute’s campus in Lowell, Massachusetts, between 2010 and 2012, or the Somerville, Massachusetts, campus from 2010 to 2013, will have their federal student debt cleared. These borrowers will receive a total of $1.4 million in loan forgiveness.

Eligible borrowers who attended these institutions will receive the aid automatically, even if they didn’t apply for it, the department said.

Those who qualify should begin receiving emails in the coming days.

An additional 61,000 federal student loan borrowers with a “total and permanent” disability will receive $2.5 billion in debt erasure, the Education Department said on Monday.

This round of relief includes some borrowers automatically approved for debt forgiveness through data matches with the U.S. Social Security Administration and the Department of Veteran Affairs. Other borrowers applied for the loan discharge.

Go

Borrowers may qualify for a Total and Permanent Disability, or TPD, Discharge if they suffer from a mental or physical disability that is severe and permanent, and prevents them from working. Proof of the disability can come from a doctor, the Social Security Administration, or the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The Education Department also granted loan forgiveness to 6,100 borrowers under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program totaling $465 million.

The program, which former President George W. Bush signed into law in 2007, allows employees of the government and certain not-for-profit entities to have federal student loans discharged after 10 years of on-time payments.

The Biden administration has tried to reverse the trend of borrowers being excluded from PSLF on technicalities. It has broadened eligibility and allowed people to reapply for relief, as long as they were working in the public sector and paying down their debt.

With the PSLF help tool, borrowers can also search for a list of qualifying employers under the program and access the employer certification form. Go to studentaid.gov to learn about all the program’s requirements.

The 2025 tax season kicks off on Jan. 27, and more taxpayers will have access to Direct File, the IRS’ free tax filing program, which launched in 2024.

Starting on Jan. 27, Direct File will be open to eligible taxpayers in 25 states, including 12 states from the 2024 pilot and 13 new states, the agency announced on Friday. 

The U.S. Department of the Treasury estimates that more than 30 million taxpayers across those 25 states will be eligible to use Direct File in 2025.

This season, new Direct File features will make tax returns “quicker and easier,” IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel told reporters on a press call.   

More from Personal Finance:
IRS announces the start of the 2025 tax season
Biden’s total student debt relief passes $183 billion
How much you can save by not drinking during ‘Dry January’

For 2025, participating states include Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington state, Wisconsin and Wyoming, according to the IRS.

After completing federal returns via Direct File, the program guides users to their state’s software for state filings. For some states, Direct File can transfer filing data.

However, you can’t use Direct File if you didn’t live in a participating state for the entirety of 2024, according to the website. You can check eligibility here.

For 2025, Direct File will add support for interest income above $1,500, pension and annuity income (excluding individual retirement accounts) and Alaska Permanent Fund Dividends, the agency announced in October.

Direct File will also accept more tax breaks, including the child and dependent care credit, premium tax credit for Marketplace insurance, the credit for elderly or disabled and retirement saver’s credit. While filers still must claim the standard deduction, Direct File will add the tax break for health savings accounts. 

Starting this season, filers can automatically import data from their IRS account, including personal data, an identity protection pin and some details from Form W-2, according to the IRS.

In addition to Direct File, most taxpayers also qualify for IRS Free File, which offers free guided tax prep through private software partners. The program opened on Jan. 10 and eligible taxpayers can start e-filing returns prepared by Free File on Jan. 27.

You’re eligible for IRS Free File if your 2023 adjusted gross income was $79,000 or less.

“Many taxpayers believe that Free File is only for the simplest returns, but that is simply not true,” Tim Hugo, executive director of the Free File Alliance said in a press release on Sunday.

For free tax preparation, many filers are also eligible for programs like Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, Tax Counseling for the Elderly and MilTax.