A recent report released by the Census Bureau found a sharp decline in college enrollment rates from 2011 to 2012 of nearly half a million students (467,000), a 2 percent dip. This drop-off comes as a surprise, as college enrollment has been on an upswing with 3.2 million new students enrolling in undergraduate and graduate programs between 2006 and 2011.
Particularly during the 2007 and 2008 financial crisis, the Census reported an increase in overall student enrollment of roughly 13 percent, the largest increase in the last 25 years. Terry Hartle, senior vice president at the American Council on Education, attributes this increase to the 2008 economic crisis. He explains that as jobs became scarce, students flocked to schools to finish degrees or get new skills to make them more marketable in a bad economy. Hartle suggests that “enrollment tends to level off or fall when the economy is improving…given how much enrollment surged during the economic downturn, a reduction was inevitable.”
Age Makes a Difference:
If you take a closer look into the data, age makes a difference. Students who were 25 and older enrolled by 10 percent less than 2011 (or 419,000 students), accounting for three-fourths of the drop in enrollment. This enrollment-exodus might mean that older students are returning to the workforce.
Combined Undergraduate and Graduate Enrollment By Age (Fall: 2012, 2011, 2010 and 2007)
Source: The Current Population Survey by the US Census, 2013 – Analyzed By Diverse Issues In Higher Education
