![]() Another third said they were applying to colleges closer to home. As a result, the majority of high school students also said they are applying to more affordable colleges. The same survey found that 98 percent of families said financial aid would be necessary to pay for college. According to The Princeton Review’s 2021 College Hopes & Worries survey, 41 percent of respondents - 42 percent of whom were students, and 36 percent of whom were parents - chose “level of debt…to pay for the degree” as their chief concern. Parents and students cite hefty price tags attached to college and debt burden as their top worry regarding higher education. The average tuition and fees, plus room and board, for a four-year private college averaged $54,880 in the 2020-21 school year, while the same costs for four-year, in-state public college averaged $26,820, according to the College Board. Underlying the skepticism about college degrees is a compelling economic reason: cost. A new poll from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Gallup showed that nearly half of parents want alternatives to four-year college. Parents are also showing increased interest in alternatives to four-year college for their children, such as vocational education programs, joining the military, or starting their own business. Students aren’t the only ones rethinking the value of a traditional four-year college education. The same survey found that 70 percent want to follow their own educational path. “We need a robust cradle-to-career education system that prepares high school students for their jobs after school.”Ī recent survey found that more than half of high school students are open to something other than a four-year degree, sinking 20 percent in the last eight months from 71 percent to 53 percent. “It’s true that the pandemic brought on this year’s enrollment declines, but covid just accelerated something that was already in the works,” said LaVerne Evans Srinivasan, the vice president of Carnegie Corporation of New York’s National Program and program director for Education. By fall 2020, about 460,000 fewer students were enrolled in U.S. Student enrollment at colleges fell 11 percent nationwide between 20 - from public state schools and community colleges to for-profits and private liberal arts schools. A 2019 Gallup poll found just over half of Americans, 51 percent, believed a college education was “very important,” a 19-point decrease from the 70 percent of U.S. “The reality is that the pandemic has disrupted the education of the next generation of young professionals,” said Doug Shapiro, the executive director of the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, “and that’s going to have immense consequences on their career options, their livelihoods.”Ĭollege enrollment has been on a downward trend for a decade. But fewer students pursuing college degrees doesn’t bode well for individuals or the broader U.S. The decline in college enrollment highlights the economic devastation the coronavirus pandemic has wrought on the nation’s economy. ![]() College enrollment usually rises during recessions, but the opposite is true now. economy.ĭuring the Great Recession a decade ago, college enrollment spiked, particularly among out-of-work older adults. While some may think the trend will be a temporary response to the devastation of the coronavirus pandemic, more likely the scars will be felt permanently for millions of individuals and the U.S. ![]() ![]() The pandemic has accelerated the financial woes of cash-strapped students and parents, who are questioning the viability of a traditional four-year college education. Native American students saw the worst decline, with attendance dropping 9.6 percent. Black students’ enrollment rate fell by 7.5 percent in 2020, and Hispanic students saw a 5.4 percent decrease. ![]() The drop-off in college enrollment is especially pronounced among Black and brown students. Most of that decline impacted community colleges, where enrollment dropped by more than 10 percent. Undergraduate enrollment is down 4.2 percent from last year. White is one of hundreds of thousands of students who opted out of college this year. “I was worried about how I’d pay for it even before the pandemic,” he said, citing his family’s low-income levels. Now, the 17-year-old says he’s considering either attending a trade school or enlisting in the military. But then covid hit, his father lost his job because of pandemic-related lay-offs, and he struggled to adapt to remote and blended learning. High school senior Chris White planned on attending University of Texas at Arlington, a local university about a 30-minute drive from his home. ![]()
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