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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

#41

Post by rossdavidh »

pm90 wrote: post #20
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…

The population of the US has increased all this time too, and so has foreign student enrollment.

Not the college-age population, however.

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

#42

Post by modernpink »

syki wrote: post #34
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...

In my college system I’m responsible for cleaning my classroom after each use. If I forget to do this and a student gets sick then I’m personally liable. I’m not paid enough to clean classrooms and teach and I’m not taking on the liability. Thus, I haven’t taught in the classroom for the last 2 years.

That is outrageous if true. An airborne virus is best treated with ventilation (i.e. opening windows). Surface transmission almost never happens [1]. The irony of course being that having a cleaner go in and out of rooms poses much greater risk of spread.

[1] COVID-19 rarely spreads through surfaces. So why are we still deep cleaning? https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00251-4

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

#43

Post by rossdavidh »

mfer wrote: post #12

US colleges have many students from foreign countries on visas. I wonder what the impact of the pandemic is on that segment of the student population. This isn't likely to hit community colleges, which the article touches on. Just trying to point out that digging deeper might show some interesting details.

Certainly has to be a factor, but not many of them were headed to community college, which has seen the biggest drop.

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

#44

Post by baby-yoda »

syki wrote: post #29
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…

thank you for linking stats. going back to 1998 there is clearly huge growth. total enrollment might already be taking a hit but i am referring more to the expenditure side of things - dorm buildings, campus luxuries, etc. the figures from your link display this, IMO. especially the expenditures.

https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d19/figures/fig_12.asp

but to be fair, yes the stats do indicate a decrease in enrollment. however degrees conferred has increased despite a decline in enrollment, any guesses as to that?

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

#45

Post by chrisseaton »

brtkdotse wrote: post #38
chrisseaton wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Socialising, sport, arts, drama, many people meet their spouse at university, yeah lots of reasons that don't apply any more.

You can do all of those without incurring crippling debt.

Obviously, but a university packages it up into one integrated community. You can't pay to create a community. Maybe that's worth it to you or maybe it isn't. I spent eight years in university in total and really enjoyed it.

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

#46

Post by treis »

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...

I don't think it's Covid related. The graph in the article clearly shows a steady decline that pre-dated Covid. Covid may have accelerated it a bit, but it's not a fundamental shift.

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

#47

Post by ars »

ChicagoDave wrote: post #32
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...

Like that number isn't horrendous in and of itself, but let's not forget that many young adults that have had Covid likely gave it to someone vulnerable as well. It's not just who dies directly from Covid. It's also the spread of it to vulnerable populations. It boggles the mind that this still has to be repeated. How many 22 year olds coming back from spring break will kill one of their parents or grandparents?

That's what the vaccine is for.

And if you're really concerned about spring break, then add all these restrictions 2 weeks before spring break.

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

#49

Post by GnarfGnarf »

Start by lowering tuition fees. University administrations have become bloated, profiteering from the truism that you gotta go to college to get a good job.

I got my B.A. in 1968; I owed $800 balance on my student loan ($6,400 today).

My plumber just charged me $430 to install a sink, about an hour and a half's work. That doesn't include the cost of the sink. Are Gender Studies majors making this kind of money?

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

#50

Post by ars »

johnebgd wrote: post #30
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.

The Professor is guaranteed to get it. A Professor comes in contact with way too many people to even have a chance of not getting it.

You're just pretending that you can actually do something by making restrictions, you actually can't.

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