Monday, October 19, 2020
Freshmen Enrollment Is Down 16% This Fall
National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, Fall 2020 Enrollment (Oct. 15, 2020):
Roughly one month into the fall semester, undergraduate enrollment is running 4.0 percent below last year’s level, and the upward trend for graduate enrollment has slipped to 2.7 percent. Overall postsecondary enrollment is down 3.0 percent as of September 24. Most strikingly, first-time students are by far the biggest decline of any student group from last year (-16.1% nationwide and -22.7% at community colleges).
- Chronicle of Higher Education, Permanent Budget Cuts Are Coming
- Chronicle of Higher Education, ‘We Haven’t Begun to Feel the Real Economic Damage’
- Inside Higher Ed, Report: Enrollment Continues to Trend Downward
- New York Times, Community College Enrollment Is Way Down
- New York Times, Freshman Enrollment Drops Significantly at U.S. Universities and Community Colleges
- Wall Street Journal, College Enrollment Slid This Fall, With First-Year Populations Down 16%
- Wall Street Journal, How Covid-19 Has Affected College Enrollment
- Washington Post, College Enrollment Takes a Hit This Fall Amid Coronavirus
https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2020/10/freshmen-enrollment-is-down-16-this-fall.html
Comments
That makes sense. Why pay those inflated university fees when you can get the same education online for less. And if you're going to be learning from home, you might as well sign up at a much cheaper community college. Students are waking up to just how expensive a college education has become.
Posted by: Michael W. Perry, medical writer | Oct 19, 2020 7:39:21 AM
I suspect a combination of financial stress, fear of Covid, and preferences for live instruction are causing a large percentage of would be freshman to sit this year out. If Covid and it’s adverse financial effects have died down by next fall, I suspect there will be a similar rise in enrollment. I’m skeptical that the decline represents a permanent reduction in secondary education. Parents will get tired of their 18 year old kids squatting in their basement.
Posted by: Anon | Oct 19, 2020 2:54:44 AM
MW Perry,
That's what we all thought would happen, but it's not what the data show happening. Community college enrollment is down more than anything else.
Posted by: Scott Boone | Oct 26, 2020 3:39:55 PM