Even though much of America’s economy opened up in 2021, America’s university-aged cohort continued to stay away from college and university in record numbers.
The number of students enrolled in post-secondary institutions fell 2.7% in 2021, a figure greater than the previous year’s decline of 2.5%. Compared with 2019, there are almost one million fewer students in America’s colleges and universities.
Unlike the drop reported last year by the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) Research Center, the bulk of which occurred in two-year community colleges (a number of which now grant bachelor degrees), 2021’s decline was steepest (11.1%) in private for-profit four-year colleges.
Even though much of America’s economy opened up in 2021, America’s university-aged cohort continued to stay away from college and university in record numbers.
The number of students enrolled in post-secondary institutions fell 2.7% in 2021, a figure greater than the previous year’s decline of 2.5%. Compared with 2019, there are almost one million fewer students in America’s colleges and universities.
Unlike the drop reported last year by the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) Research Center, the bulk of which occurred in two-year community colleges (a number of which now grant bachelor degrees), 2021’s decline was steepest (11.1%) in private for-profit four-year colleges.
The drop in the number of students studying in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields was a major surprise. There were 20,000 fewer students enrolled in engineering in 2021, for example, than there had been in 2020. Biological and biomedical science lost only 0.1% in 2020 but fell 4.2% in 2021. The decline in mathematics was even more pronounced: 5%.
“The decline in the liberal arts and humanities was not surprising,” said Shapiro. “But what is really concerning is that a programm like computer science increased by only 1.3% this year and that engineering declined by 3.6% [or 21,079; the drop in community colleges was 5,000].
Source information:
https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20220117095802124