Where Is Everybody?
From the New York Times, January 13, 2022-
The enrollment crisis at U.S. institutions of higher learning continued a second year into the pandemic, even as coronavirus vaccines became widely available for students last fall, according to the latest numbers from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
Total undergraduate enrollment dropped 3.1 percent from the fall of 2020 to the fall of 2021, bringing the total decline since the fall of 2019 to 6.6 percent — or 1,205,600 students.
“Our final look at fall 2021 enrollment shows undergraduates continuing to sit out in droves as colleges navigate yet another year of Covid-19,” said Doug Shapiro, the executive director of the research center, which collects and analyzes data from 3,600 postsecondary institutions.
Even before the pandemic, college enrollment was declining nationally as the number of college-age students leveled off. At the same time, high tuition costs discouraged prospective domestic students, and the highly polarizing immigration debate drove away international students.
That decline then accelerated steeply when Covid-19 forced many classes online and restricted campus life. The economic disruption caused by the pandemic also forced many prospective college students into the workplace.
The new figures show that undergraduate enrollment declined at every type of college, but public two-year colleges remain the hardest-hit, with U.S. community colleges disproportionately hurt.
Tens of thousands of students, many of them low-income, were forced to delay school or drop out because of the pandemic and the economic crisis it has created. The new data showed that enrollment in community colleges was down 13.2 percent, or 706,000 students, compared with 2019.
The number of students seeking associate degrees at four-year institutions also fell, as did the number of students aged 24 and over.
“Without a dramatic re-engagement in their education, the potential loss to these students’ earnings and futures is significant, which will greatly impact the nation as a whole in years to come,” Mr. Shapiro said in a news release.
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What is happening is a perfect storm that has arrived about 3 years ahead of schedule. The shrinking cohort of available college students combined with ever-increasing higher education price tags plus a bidding war job market is all real today. It WILL force changes (stay tuned for more details!)
Upheaval is not limited to whether to go to college. Boomers are suddenly retiring if financially possible, while Gen Y is quietly planning their exit as soon as their investments peak (Gen Y never tells anyone their plans.) Millennials are changing jobs for big pay raises, and working remotely while enjoying the freedom to live anywhere. The new norm for meetings by Zoom, Skype, Facetime, et. al. has invaded religious institutions, book clubs, ladies’ circles, etc. About the only thing we haven’t figured out is how to play sports remotely- oh, wait! There’s fantasy football and baseball!
1.2+ million fewer students in higher education in the last 2 years? That’s around just under 7% of the total students (almost 15 million) in college. Got it. But, where ARE you? You sure don’t seem to be working (5+ million jobs going begging.) It’s perfectly fine not to go to college. It is NOT perfectly fine to not have another plan for your desired life. Create your plan, work your plan, re-work your plan.
As is attributed to Ben Franklin, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.”
Next week- the best advice to those with currently suspended college loan accounts-share with your family and friends!
Until Next Time,
All My Best,
Bonnie Burkett
