Higher education has a problem. Well two problems.
- Much of it is worthless
- Potential students are opting out
Viewed in that light, Biden’s student loan forgiveness scheme was not just about propping up his party, but also a failing system. Student loan debt is astronomical, but so is institutional debt. And there’s some troubling numbers that suggest that colleges may be too big to fail, but failing anyway.
Undergraduate enrollment in the U.S. topped out at roughly 18 million students over a decade ago, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
These days, only about 62% of high school seniors in the U.S. immediately go on to college, down from 68% in 2010.
Taking a closer look at those numbers, “between fall 2010 and fall 2021, total undergraduate enrollment in degree-granting postsecondary institutions decreased by 15 percent (from 18.1 million to 15.4 million students).”
Some of this is pandemic related and some is the usual men continuing to abandon college, but not just.
In fall 2021, female students made up 58 percent of total undergraduate enrollment (8.9 million students), and male students made up 42 percent (6.5 million students). Between 2010 and 2021, male enrollment decreased by 17 percent (from 7.8 million to 6.5 million students) and female enrollment decreased by 13 percent (from 10.2 million to 8.9 million students). Over this period, male enrollment saw its largest single-year decline in fall 2020 (7 percent), while female enrollment saw its largest single-year decline in fall 2021 (3 percent).
Enrollment for white and black students fell by 28% and 27%, but rose by 30% for Hispanic students and 7% for Asian students.
There are projections that enrollment will increase, but they’re just that. The current economic shakedown and the labor market have allowed some people to get casual jobs that pay well, meaning that a bunch of people in their twenties may not go to college and if they do, it’ll be later in life, and likely involve online courses.
So you can see why colleges are nervous. With costs going up and loan forgiveness shaky, their client base is walking away from them.