This could be the biggest two-year decline in enrollment in over 50 years.
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More than 500,000 fewer students enrolled in college in 2020 compared to 2019, about a 3% drop, and an additional half-million are expected to have torn up their applications this year, according to preliminary data. That would be the biggest two-year enrollment decline in over 50 years, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
It’s not the Harvards of the world that are hurting for students:
- 10% fewer students enrolled in community colleges—which have more low-income students and students of color than four-year schools—in 2020 vs. 2019, and community college enrollment is projected to have dropped another 5.6% this fall.
- That bucks the typical trend: Normally when the economy is doing poorly, all enrollment, but especially community college enrollment, rises as people skip out on the job market to level up their education.
Zoom out: Undergraduate and graduate enrollment has been sliding since 2012, but fell off a cliff when the pandemic kicked everyone off campus last year. Fewer students enrolling now = fewer grads seeking higher-paying jobs later.—JW
