There’s been a significant decline in the number of students enrolled in Iowa colleges and universities, COMMUNITY colleges and trade schools. In the fall of 2011, Total enrollment in Iowa’s 15 area community colleges has declined over the decade, too. An upward trend in Iowa’s high education, according to Jay Pennington of the Department of Education,  is the number of Iowa high school students who are taking community college classes. Last fall, more than 37-thousand Iowa high school students were taking college classes, too. The number of students in the UNITED STATES enrolled in college THIS FALL dipped below 18 million for the first time this decade.