Summary

College enrollment among 18-year-old freshmen fell 5% this fall, with declines most severe at public and private non-profit four-year colleges.

Experts attribute the drop to factors including declining birth rates, high tuition costs, FAFSA delays, and uncertainty over student loan relief after Supreme Court rulings against forgiveness plans.

Economic pressures, such as the need to work, also deter students.

Despite declining enrollment, applications have risen, particularly among low- and middle-income students, underscoring interest in higher education. Experts urge addressing affordability and accessibility to reverse this trend.

  • @PriorityMotif
    link
    44 days ago

    Well yeah, all the professors have offloaded everything into online learning systems and all of the answers to everything are available online at sites like chegg, then there’s chatgpt now. Nobody is learning anything in college, except how to cheat effectively.