If fewer people are getting those credentials, those jobs often sit empty.Ĭommunity colleges play a large role in "skilling up," offering associate degrees in technical and high-demand fields. Without state investment, institutions are strapped, and so are American families.Ī strong economy and soaring college costs have made it even more difficult for colleges to persuade students to enroll.Īnd yet, employers still need skilled workers, whether it's a profession that requires a four-year degree, other jobs that require an associate degree, or skills or trades that need certificates or credentials. As tuition goes up, and grants and scholarships don't keep pace, that's pushed the cost of college down to students and their families. States are putting less money into higher education, and that's led to an increased reliance on tuition.
Those numbers are also projected to decline, so the trend of fewer students coming from high school isn't going away anytime soon.Īnd finally, there's the cost of college. The number of high school graduates is flat - and in some cases declining - because of lower birth rates about 20 years ago. That bump in college enrollment set records, and in some ways the current downturn is simply "colleges returning to more historic levels of enrollment," Shapiro says. When the recession hit a decade ago, the reverse happened: Many people, especially older adults, returned to college. As the economy gets better, unemployment goes down - it's currently at 3.5 % - and more people leave college, or postpone it, and head to work.
college enrollment went up was 2011, at the tail end of the recession. The biggest factor for the years of decline is the strong economy.
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