College and University Enrollment Drops Third Year in a Row
“Freshman enrollment fell in all four-year sectors, including highly selective private and public flagship institutions”
Inflation combined with Covid has been like a wrecking ball for higher education.
The College Fix reports:
College enrollment falls for third consecutive year
Student enrollment at colleges and universities has dropped for the third consecutive year, continuing a trend that began during COVID and worrying higher education officials.
“While early signs led many to predict a slight rebound from the steep two-year drop-off during the pandemic, a new report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center shows that enrollment fell for the fifth semester in a row, dampening those hopes,” Inside Higher Ed reported.
“Overall enrollment fell by 1.1 percent, closer to pre-pandemic levels than the more drastic declines that shocked leaders over the past two years. The rate of decline has decreased by almost a third since fall 2020.”
The undergraduate count is now “about 7 percent lower than it was in fall 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic rocked higher education,” the Washington Post reported.
The news agencies’ data comes from a National Student Clearinghouse Research Center report, released Thursday.
“I certainly wouldn’t call this a recovery,” Doug Shapiro, the research center’s executive director, told the Post. “We’re seeing smaller declines, but when you’re in a deep hole, the fact that you’re only digging a tiny bit further is not really good news. … We don’t see a huge upsurge of first-year students, of freshmen, especially at the four-year institutions.”
The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center website states undergrad enrollment “fell across sectors, especially among four-year institutions. … Freshman enrollment fell in all four-year sectors, including highly selective private and public flagship institutions.”
Some billed the news as a positive sign. An NPR headline stated: “The college enrollment drop is finally letting up. That’s the good news.”
But Shapiro, the research center’s director, said in a news release that after “two straight years of historically large losses, it is particularly troubling that numbers are still falling, especially among freshmen.”
There are a few places where enrollment grew, however, namely Historically Black Colleges and Universities, or HBCUs, and online programs, the report found.
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my two college aged kids are not attending. One is working and the other has designed herself a “homeschool college curriculum” based on free classes posted online from major universities. She may not get a degree, but she has a plan to continue her education.
“Inflation combined with Covid has been like a wrecking ball for higher education.”
And distrust of useless indoctrination for outrageous fees is chopped liver?
Why go into huge debt to be maleducated?
Imagine if Candace Owens had a college degree.
Why— she might have been able to achieve international recognition, and financial security, she might have been able to meet a decent guy, get married, and have a couple kids.
If Lauren Boebert had obtained a college degree perhaps she could have had a family and idk maybe run for congress.
What a relief to know that a few years into his NBA career Michael Jordan completed his college degree. Why— he might never have amounted to anything.
And if President Harry Truman had gone to college, why there’s no telling what he might have been able to achieve.
Or any number of others.
smh