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More than 1M fewer students are in college, the lowest numbers in 50 years

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Re: More than 1M fewer students are in college, the lowest numbers in 50 years

#21

Post by astura »

Bostonian wrote: post #2

I've read that more Americans start college than in other developed countries but that the fraction of college graduates is similar. This suggests that there are too many unqualified students attending college in the U.S., and if the declining enrollments are coming primarily from that group, it's a good thing.

Maybe.

Some people fail out of college because the work is beyond their capabilities, but I think a significant percentage of people who start college but don't graduate do so for reasons other than being simply unqualified.

I admit it's anecdotal, but very few people I know who started college but didn't finish didn't finish due to academic reasons.

Re: More than 1M fewer students are in college, the lowest numbers in 50 years

#22

Post by tootahe45 »

jack_pp wrote: post #4

A big reason for going to college is socializing so.. makes no sense to go now.

I believe the socializing/networking thing is over-sold unless you go to a top-tier uni where students may be from wealthy families and are therefore well socialized, or do something non-cs like business studies. Everyone i studied with were introverts (gamer-types). High school was way better for socializing. Oh and there were like 2 females total in all of my CS classes.

Re: More than 1M fewer students are in college, the lowest numbers in 50 years

#23

Post by chrisseaton »

tootahe45 wrote: post #22
jack_pp wrote: post #4

A big reason for going to college is socializing so.. makes no sense to go now.

I believe the socializing/networking thing is over-sold unless you go to a top-tier uni where students may be from wealthy families and are therefore well socialized, or do something non-cs like business studies. Everyone i studied with were introverts (gamer-types). High school was way better for socializing. Oh and there were like 2 females total in all of my CS classes.

> Everyone i studied with were introverts (gamer-types).

Trick is to find ways out of the engineering department. I did Latin as an optional, and I was in a sports team where nobody was an engineer. Plus presumably you aren't living in an engineering-specific halls?

Re: More than 1M fewer students are in college, the lowest numbers in 50 years

#24

Post by [deleted] »

sAbakumoff wrote: post #10

why bother? you enroll to a college, you collect a huge debt that the government is not going to cancel - they prefer to give money to corporations instead. covid-19 disrupted in-person education and it's not gonna away any time soon. at the same time there are plenty of crypto startups that don't give a sh*t about education and could be pretty lukrative

[deleted]

Re: More than 1M fewer students are in college, the lowest numbers in 50 years

#25

Post by jdavis703 »

stinkytaco wrote: post #17
pacbard wrote: post #11

This is probably related to teenagers enrolling in college not only for an education but also for the amenities that come with college life (think of greek life, moving away from parents, college sports, freedom to explore your identity, etc.) The pandemic has put a stop on most of all non-academic stuff, making enrolling in college less appealing to this group of students. It will be interesting to see a follow-up a…

Most of the amenities you speak of are not available at community colleges, which have seen the biggest decline. The pandemic definitely figures into this, but I don't think amenities can account for the large decline in certificate and vocational training this represents.

Community college has also gotten really expensive. I was looking at the price for my alma matter, tuition has more than doubled since I graduated in 2010. The price has gone up faster than my university’s tuition, making the community college less competitive. I wouldn’t be surprised if economics also is contributing to declining community college enrollment.

Re: More than 1M fewer students are in college, the lowest numbers in 50 years

#26

Post by qlm »

reaperducer wrote: post #18
sAbakumoff wrote: post #10

why bother? you enroll to a college, you collect a huge debt that the government is not going to cancel - they prefer to give money to corporations instead. covid-19 disrupted in-person education and it's not gonna away any time soon. at the same time there are plenty of crypto startups that don't give a sh*t about education and could be pretty lukrative

I always chuckle when someone on HN inevitably rails against education in a post with bad spelling, grammar, and expletives.

You think expletives are a sign of poor education? How dull.

Re: More than 1M fewer students are in college, the lowest numbers in 50 years

#27

Post by disambiguation »

Less than 3k kids under the age of 24 have died from covid since the start of the pandemic [0] yet they have some how wound up with the harshest restrictions.

These kids will never get these years back. What a disgrace.

[0] https://data.cdc.gov/NCHS/Provisional-COVID-19-Deaths-by-Sex...

Re: More than 1M fewer students are in college, the lowest numbers in 50 years

#28

Post by ChicagoDave »

I have 3 college-aged kids and one nearly there. Their universal concern is the cost. It has become prohibitive.

Colleges assumed the trend of charging $25k to $50k per year would be sustainable. They were dead wrong, especially given the horrendously predatory loans backed by the government and barred from bankruptcy.

If we fix the college financial system, enrollment would likely skyrocket.

Re: More than 1M fewer students are in college, the lowest numbers in 50 years

#29

Post by syki »

baby-yoda wrote: post #16

colleges have been expanding with zero constraints for 20+ years - demand for degrees increased significantly, enrollment went up and up, student loans being federally backed were given out to anyone for any amount so tuition naturally increased substantially. seemingly limitless growth opportunity? now many are massively bloated organizations with declining utility and the need to maintain their perpetual growth - w…

Enrollment in higher ed decreased 7% from 2008 to 2018. It’s not true that colleges have been expanding with zero constraints. The increase in tuition at public colleges and universities has occurred with the decrease in public funding per student. At my system 20 years ago roughly 60% of the cost of education was publicly funded and now it is 40%. We’ve correspondingly increased tuition.

https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d19/ch_3.asp

Re: More than 1M fewer students are in college, the lowest numbers in 50 years

#30

Post by johnebgd »

disambiguation wrote: post #27

Less than 3k kids under the age of 24 have died from covid since the start of the pandemic [0] yet they have some how wound up with the harshest restrictions. These kids will never get these years back. What a disgrace. [0] https://data.cdc.gov/NCHS/Provisional-COVID-19-Deaths-by-Sex...

The problem with highly infectious diseases is those who get it also infect others. The professors are likely in the age bracket that has a higher risk than the student.
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