Declining college enrollment

My parents were both college grads by the time I was born. They believed strongly in the importance of a college education. In the event, they had five kids, all of whom graduated four-year colleges within four years. By the time I finished college, though, only about 25% of American adults had graduated a 4-year college or university. That number is now about 38%.

College enrollment among 18-24-year-olds has been declining for over a decade. My reaction is ambivalent at best. College isn’t for everyone, and many people who graduate end up taking jobs that don’t require a college degree. On the other hand, I’d like my fellow voters to be educated. On the third hand, a bachelor’s degree doesn’t guarantee good judgement.

What’s going on?

 

“Most of the decline is due to fewer young men pursuing college. About 1 million fewer young men are in college but only 0.2 million fewer young women. As a result, men make up 44% of young college students today, down from 47% in 2011, according to newly released U.S. Census Bureau data.

 

“This shift is driven entirely by the falling share of men who are students at four-year colleges. Today, men represent only 42% of students ages 18 to 24 at four-year schools, down from 47% in 2011.”

There’s an opportunity cost associated with attending a 4-year college or university. Setting aside tuition, a college student could be out earning a salary*. But on average, the lifetime earnings of college grads easily compensate for that opportunity cost. So, the guys who possess the aptitude and elect not to go to college are, on average, exercising poor business sense, based on the data.

 

Many employers prefer a college grad, even if the skills for the job don’t require college-level training. Why? One big reason is that if you have a bachelor’s degree, you’re a finisher. You have a documented ability to complete diverse complex tasks on schedule and at a passing level of performance. Those are qualities most employers valorize.

I suspect that some of these guys will end up getting a degree through night school or being supported by their wives who did go to college.

*I was work-study for three of the four years I was in college.

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/12/18/fewer-young-men-are-in-college-especially-at-4-year-schools/

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