After decades of steady increase, college enrollments leveled off and then started to fall around 2012. That led to lots of boo-hooing about how we were “falling behind” other countries that would be “better educated.”
Recently, however, college enrollment has been increasing slightly. That doesn’t mean that things are back to normal. As Ashlynn Warta notes in today’s Martin Center article, enrollments are growing at schools offering short-term credentials, not at those offering four-year degrees at high cost.
She writes:
So why are students forgoing standard four-year degrees and instead opting for short-term programs or certificates? According to Doug Shapiro, the NSCRC’s executive director, “Students seem to be more concerned about the costs of college — particularly four-year colleges—and concerned about the debt that might be required to pay for that.” As one often hears from current and prospective students these days, the cost of higher education is one of the main reasons students are staying away from colleges and universities to a greater extent.
Too much expense for too little value. Many colleges are going to have to cut needless costs if they want to stay afloat.