College Enrollment Declines for the Third Straight Year Since Pandemic in the US

[Davidvictorson]

The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, in their most recent research, has found that college and university enrollment has dropped for the third straight year since the pandemic. Specifically, between the fall of 2020 and 2022, undergraduate college enrollment declined by 4.2%.

Why is this so?

• Concerns about college affordability and student debt

College remains at its most expensive ever—tuition at private, nonprofit four-year colleges costs an average of $38,070 per year during the 2021-22 academic year, and public four-year colleges are charging an average of $10,740, according to the most recent Trends in College Pricing and Student Aid report. The Biden Administration announced in August a plan to forgive up to $20,000 in existing federal student debt per borrower, but that wouldn’t help those taking on new debt and public attention before and after that announcement has served to keep student debt—and the burdens it places on drop outs, graduates and their families—in the news cycle.

• Strong labor market

The labor market for workers without a college degree is still strong. The unemployment rate in September fell to 3.5%, and the number of manufacturing and construction jobs is on the rise. (Construction as a college major saw a surge in interest this fall, with the number of students pursuing associates degrees in the field rising by 7.4%). High school graduates that opted not to go to college during the last two years have yet to enroll, the Clearinghouse data shows.

These prospective students appear to be saying instead of going to College or University they should just work construction or do some courses online and acquire a skill, since they might not be able to pay off their student loans even after graduation. Has Colleges and Universities stopped bring values to students? Has the ROI of Colleges and Universities dropped?

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[Poker Player]

There is another thing that may influence a little bit that you haven't mentioned, and it is becoming less and less important that you have a degree and more and more important that you know how to do a certain job. With the online tools that there are for self-learning, if you do a higher training module in computer science and continue training yourself, you can get a job without going to university because in that sector there is a high demand, and what matters to them is that you know how to perform the required tasks.

Not all sectors are the same and having a degree is still important, but much less important than 100 years ago when the only way to learn was to physically go to university.

But, well, that the university is expensive and that there is a lot of employment, I understand that these are the main factors. If I'm going to have to go into debt almost for life to study a 4 year degree that I don't know if I'm going to finish and yet I can start earning good money now, the equation is clear.

[Minecache]

This is also happening in many other countries, many students after 4-5 years of university study, when they graduate, can't find a job, can't pay their debts, causing negative thoughts for the next generations. Nowadays, the cost to complete a university program is too high and with the development of internet technology like today, knowledge in school doesn't seem too hard to find on it. Therefore, many people who do not have the conditions will choose the solution of doing and learning online, these people will often acquire skills and knowledge at the same time.

A degree is still a criterion for hiring, but if you are not productive, you can still be unemployed as usual. In today's fast-paced life, companies need people with experience rather than degrees because they don't want to waste time retraining someone from scratch.

[Bttzed03]

In addition to what @Poker Player said, those undergraduates who earn a decent amount of money online would find going to college for four years a waste of time. Just look at how content creators take advantage of social media platforms that monetize whatever they put out there. The majority of those contents don't need to be intellectual, they just need to be engaging to a particular audience.

A youtuber once said this:

why go to college when you could be a millionaire in four years?

Of course, not every aspiring content creator will achieve success but imagine the influence these young millionaires have over the thousands/millions of undergrads.

[Gyfts]

College remains at its most expensive ever—tuition at private, nonprofit four-year colleges costs an average of $38,070 per year during the 2021-22 academic year, and public four-year colleges are charging an average of $10,740, according to the most recent Trends in College Pricing and Student Aid report. The Biden Administration announced in August a plan to forgive up to $20,000 in existing federal student debt per borrower, but that wouldn’t help those taking on new debt and public attention before and after that announcement has served to keep student debt—and the burdens it places on drop outs, graduates and their families—in the news cycle

Forgiving college loans just makes the debt crisis worth, and it only incentivizes institutions to raise their prices as long as debts are being repaid. You can obtain liberal arts degrees that will cost up to 100k USD in total tuition fees and the institution will happily take a naive 18 year old's money because they aren't the ones cosigning on the loans. The institutions will stick around, they're more than comfortable with collecting payment plus interest over a period of 25 years.

Hopefully with less supply of college applicants, the price will come down. No reason to be paying the inflated prices that currently exist.

[Darker45]

University graduates will most probably land better jobs than high school graduates in general. In terms of career growth, university graduates will generally also have bigger opportunities than mere high school graduates. Although it is expensive, it will probably be worth it, that is, if you don't want to end up taking blue-collar jobs.

Anyway, at least there's a balance between expensive university degrees and a strong labor market in the US. It would be a dread when expensive university degrees are coupled with lack of job opportunities.

And that's exactly what's happening in my country. Now, the government is asking companies to hire more senior high school graduates. But why would they do that when college graduates abound. Why would I hire a high school graduate as a store cashier if I can hire a college graduate for it with the same minimum compensation?

[Rruchi man]

Has Colleges and Universities stopped bring values to students? Has the ROI of Colleges and Universities dropped?

It may be an indication also that the educational curriculum be revisited and revised to offer more interesting options that are attractive to students. If all those courses that they get quick certifications for and now see as better alternatives for enrolling in college which requires a lot of money and a lot of time are introduced into the educational curriculum such that they can now learn those within the walls of an educational institution, many will rethink their choices.

The educational curriculum should also offer more room and time for students to work and earn, while they are in college.

[Zaguru12]

I don't know the kinda of value you are talking about. But there's two set of it; the knowledge part and then the monetary aspect. The knowledge part I feel the universities still offers them because an indept knowledge of a particular course gain at a college or uni is far greater when you drop off only at high school. People with degrees offer much more (in terms of knowledge) than those of high school.

Monetary aspect of it is comparing the money earns after college to the fees spent in acquiring it. Tuition fees are expensive and many work places are paying fees ment for high school graduates. Once a college graduate gets tired of being jobless he picks up those low paying jobs.

In my country here people have developed the culture of getting both degree and acquiring a skill because after graduation/convocation from university you don't need to be on a pressure to pick those low jobs. Moreover the skill+ degree gets you a high paying jobs in various companies here

[virasisog]

We all know that in the current situation that we have, having a job as a source of income is being prioritized over education because of financial issues. Students want to make money rather than finish college because some of them believe that they could earn the same or higher than those who have finished college as long as they acquire the skills needed to be qualified for a certain job.
They are just being practical since we're in the midst of an inflation crisis. Our focus is to survive and earn to afford to live. Even tuition fees have increased due to inflation so some students can't afford especially those who have been badly affected by the pandemic. It's just a good thing that there are already lots of opportunities being offered to those who don't have a college degree. 

[pooya87]

Thank god we have basically free universities in our country otherwise I don't know what kind of money I should have paid and owned to get my masters degree.

Has Colleges and Universities stopped bring values to students? Has the ROI of Colleges and Universities dropped?

They may be counting on migrations. A lot of graduate students migrate to US. It's no wonder that almost half of NASA scientists are Iranian

[hyudien]

This is also happening in many other countries, many students after 4-5 years of university study, when they graduate, can't find a job, can't pay their debts, causing negative thoughts for the next generations. Nowadays, the cost to complete a university program is too high and with the development of internet technology like today, knowledge in school doesn't seem too hard to find on it. Therefore, many people who do not have the conditions will choose the solution of doing and learning online, these people will often acquire skills and knowledge at the same time.

A degree is still a criterion for hiring, but if you are not productive, you can still be unemployed as usual. In today's fast-paced life, companies need people with experience rather than degrees because they don't want to waste time retraining someone from scratch.

This phenomenon occurred both before and after the pandemic. Because today many young people have a fairly broad mind where they think that the cost of going to college is quite expensive while the knowledge they get can be easily accessed on the internet. Today seeking knowledge is not as difficult as it used to be when we have to take it in private and public universities because the internet is still not accessed by the lower classes and I think a bachelor's degree before 2000 still has a good value. But now skills can be accessed and developed if you have the internet anything can be searched easily if you want. As of now, content creators don't need to work in companies anymore because they create jobs they love, and not a few of them don't come from people who have degrees.

[Die_empty]

The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, in their most recent research, has found that college and university enrollment has dropped for the third straight year since the pandemic. Specifically, between the fall of 2020 and 2022, undergraduate college enrollment declined by 4.2%.

Covid-19 led to diverse forms of lockdown in different nations. People began to learn diverse skills online and these skills were indeed beneficial because high-paying jobs were available. Before it was: go to school, earn a degree and get a job. But Covid-`19 broke that orientation. It became glaring that degrees are worthless without skills but skills are useful even without a degree.

Now people prefer to go for the skills and not degrees because universities and colleges are more expensive than these skills acquisition centers or organizations. My colleague in my place of work resigned because the online skills he acquired during the pandemic session gave him a high-paying job that pays him 6 times higher than the job we got with our degrees. And the beauty of his new job is that he works for 4 hours, while I have to work for 7 hours. Yeah, university degrees are not bad, but why go to school to learn sometimes outdated skills, when you can always access the a highly needed labor market after a few months of training?

[Frankolala]

The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, in their most recent research, has found that college and university enrollment has dropped for the third straight year since the pandemic. Specifically, between the fall of 2020 and 2022, undergraduate college enrollment declined by 4.2%.

Things are getting very expensive everday, also with going to college is expensive. Everybody is looking for a way to cut down their expenses, looking for an alternative way which will still solve the same problem. Why will they go to college, when going to college becomes a debit to the family and this becomes a burden. The students have understand that you can have a good skill in construction that will give you a permanent job in big construction company.You can use your skill as a profession,which will not even be up to four years that they will spend in school accumulating debts. Finally they have seen that they don't need a classroom anymore and can learn on their own that's why they prefer the online courses that makes working and learning can survive them more in these present days

[gantez]

This is also happening in many other countries, many students after 4-5 years of university study, when they graduate, can't find a job, can't pay their debts, causing negative thoughts for the next generations.

I thought deep about this to realise the few graduates having to survive the hard economic reality is like certain field which is people studying in medical field. In some countries some course of study is no longer relevant or in use, maybe they can only be teachers and how many graduates can the classroom occupy but in all those countries the human life and to safe life is important and very needed so that is why the health field is more needed in people to work all over the world. In Canada health workers are in need, Australia, Uk, USA, China all the countries even remote countries, the health workers have jobs to do. Another area for course of study that graduates get job is in technology but not very many.

This is a sign going on that leadership and government has failed and people taking to survive by their own struggle and not what government can provide for them to work. People now finding help in online business, gambling is increasing, trading are all part of the jobs people don't do in the past but now no job so they can't stay hungry. Population increase is causing it and bad management of the modern indices that greet the world.

[Bitstar_coin]

Coupled with high rate of unemployment could be a contributing factor to the drop. Most parents encouraged their children to go for professional courses that can easily get them employment. Others just go learn skills without going through college and university process.

In some African countries, prolonged strikes is another reason why some students don't fancy going to college and university. They will end up spending longer than required numbers of years in school, as if that is not enough, getting a job with your qualification is another battle.

[Fortify]

The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, in their most recent research, has found that college and university enrollment has dropped for the third straight year since the pandemic. Specifically, between the fall of 2020 and 2022, undergraduate college enrollment declined by 4.2%.

Why is this so?

• Concerns about college affordability and student debt

College remains at its most expensive ever—tuition at private, nonprofit four-year colleges costs an average of $38,070 per year during the 2021-22 academic year, and public four-year colleges are charging an average of $10,740, according to the most recent Trends in College Pricing and Student Aid report. The Biden Administration announced in August a plan to forgive up to $20,000 in existing federal student debt per borrower, but that wouldn’t help those taking on new debt and public attention before and after that announcement has served to keep student debt—and the burdens it places on drop outs, graduates and their families—in the news cycle.

• Strong labor market

The labor market for workers without a college degree is still strong. The unemployment rate in September fell to 3.5%, and the number of manufacturing and construction jobs is on the rise. (Construction as a college major saw a surge in interest this fall, with the number of students pursuing associates degrees in the field rising by 7.4%). High school graduates that opted not to go to college during the last two years have yet to enroll, the Clearinghouse data shows.

These prospective students appear to be saying instead of going to College or University they should just work construction or do some courses online and acquire a skill, since they might not be able to pay off their student loans even after graduation. Has Colleges and Universities stopped bring values to students? Has the ROI of Colleges and Universities dropped?

It's unsurprising in a way, because we all see the ridiculously high prices that these college and universities have been squeezing out of youngsters for year after year. Saddling a young mind with such enormous amounts of debt can be crippling and debilitating at one of the most critical times of their life. We're asking them to take in vast amounts of knowledge while at the same time burdening them with vast amounts of debt when in many cases they might have barely seen a few thousand in their bank accounts. I can understand why many would prefer to take a more apprentice and hands on style of learning, which might actually be more beneficial for the companies who often end up molding these youngsters into the workplace anyway.

[dothebeats]

• Concerns about college affordability and student debt

College remains at its most expensive ever—tuition at private, nonprofit four-year colleges costs an average of $38,070 per year during the 2021-22 academic year, and public four-year colleges are charging an average of $10,740, according to the most recent Trends in College Pricing and Student Aid report. The Biden Administration announced in August a plan to forgive up to $20,000 in existing federal student debt per borrower, but that wouldn’t help those taking on new debt and public attention before and after that announcement has served to keep student debt—and the burdens it places on drop outs, graduates and their families—in the news cycle.

This probably is the main reason why only a few students are taking up higher education after high school. Imagine getting a degree that is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars that will not pay off for the next 5-10 years of your life and landing you in a job that pays very low? Who would be motivated on that? There are grants and scholarships that the government offers but most of those are aimed for the cream of the crop students, but what about the average ones?

I really don't understand why college needs to be ultra expensive in the US. Other nations can provide quality education with the fraction of the cost—in some countries, even free sometimes.

• Strong labor market

The labor market for workers without a college degree is still strong. The unemployment rate in September fell to 3.5%, and the number of manufacturing and construction jobs is on the rise. (Construction as a college major saw a surge in interest this fall, with the number of students pursuing associates degrees in the field rising by 7.4%). High school graduates that opted not to go to college during the last two years have yet to enroll, the Clearinghouse data shows.

These prospective students appear to be saying instead of going to College or University they should just work construction or do some courses online and acquire a skill, since they might not be able to pay off their student loans even after graduation. Has Colleges and Universities stopped bring values to students? Has the ROI of Colleges and Universities dropped?

Or if they went to a trade school instead, they will have better chances of landing a job almost immediately after being referred, or even them just looking for a job alone. Nowadays only a few students are chasing for degrees in Science, Tech, Economics, and other such field that pays highly but also gets you into a pile of debt in the academe. Meanwhile labor jobs are on the rise because the number of people that are skilled enough to do the job are declining, hence why the field is slowly booming again and getting a lot of heads turning due to the increase in pay and a lot of jobs ready to be taken.

[Jatiluhung]

The decline in the number of people applying to college has indeed occurred since the pandemic. And after the end of the pandemic, it still happens. That is, it turns out that the interest of students to continue their education has decreased. because even in my environment now young people are more interested in directly looking for income through online work. such as becoming a YouTuber or becoming an influencer and video creator on other platforms.
Coupled with the worsening economic problems, many people who are interested in pursuing higher education have become discouraged from their interests due to financial inadequacy. and there are many other factors that make the enrollment to universities decline.

[lumbanrang]

Now more and more young people are interested in working first for financial reasons or want to seek work experience first. In my country, the government is currently intensively building industry and travel, which requires a lot of job opportunities and the impact is that more young people are applying for jobs to fill these vacancies and temporarily delaying their education. This is good, but if it continues like this the country will lack human resources with sufficient education for certain areas.

[Hydrogen]

It would be great if university and MBA degrees declined in favor of vocational academics. The bankruptcy of radio shack in the united states might indicate the a dire need for more applied skills in labor. America no longer has the expertise to build many crucial components and structures within its own borders. The concrete shells for containment in nuclear power plants for example cannot be built in the USA and are usually constructed in japan and shipped overseas. Due to america lacking the expertise and skilled labor necessary to construct those prefab components.

University degrees have become a bit bloated with excessive courses, its no surprise enrollment is on a decline.

I would expect disparity in wealth and wage equality having played a role in decline of higher education for many years.

Perhaps if the system fails, education might finally be reformed in a way that is superior to the old system. COVID lockdowns and home schooling could have opened doors and show us how current education might be improved upon.