Current Events > College enrollment continues to slide as free tuition and loan forgiveness stall

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/08/college-enrollment-declines-as-free-tuition-long-forgiveness-stall.html

Nearly 1 million fewer students have enrolled in college since the beginning of the pandemic. Between the sky-high costs and hefty the student loan debt, would-be freshmen are struggling to see the value in a degree. At the same time, more companies are hiring workers straight out of high school, amid an ongoing labor shortage. Nationwide, fewer students went back to school again this year, dragging undergraduate enrollment down another 3.1% from last year, according to a recent report by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center based on data from colleges. The number of undergraduates in college is now down 5.1% compared to two years ago a loss of 938,000 students, the report found. Community colleges, which usually see an influx of students during economic downturns, have been particularly hard hit by enrollment declines. Even though community college is significantly less expensive, fewer students enrolled when Covids financial impact was at its worst. Community college students likely are older, lower-income and often balancing work, children and other obligations, and they are also disproportionately students of color all groups the pandemic hit especially hard.

Initially, congressional Democrats Build Back Better Act included a provision to make community college tuition-free for two years a move President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden have been advocating since the campaign trail but the legislation hit a wall after Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., said he would not vote for it. Free community college is no longer part of that package, the first lady said at the Community College National Legislative Summit Monday. We knew this wasnt going to be easy, she added. I was disappointed. Federal student loan forgiveness was also left out of the Build Back Better agenda. A spokesperson for the White House said the president continues to explore what debt relief actions can be taken administratively. In the meantime, Biden has extended the payment pause for student loan borrowers that has been in effect since March 2020. Payments are expected to restart in May.

Imagine being the democrat known for killing free community college. What a total tool.

If colleges are still doing Zoom classes cant say im surprised people dont go to them anymore.

"Smarter people make this too challenging"

Yeah I get it

Kombucha posted...

Imagine being the democrat known for killing free community college. What a total tool.

Yeah a tool for evil.

Good. People need to be aware that there is great value in a trade school. The whole bit from Community about plumbing or A/C repair is spot on. Anything in that realm will always be a necessity and will always offer lucrative work at a fraction of the cost for a degree/license/whatever you get from one of those.

College/universities is not the best way to go. If i ran a country, i would encourage apprenticeships. Theres no better way than to learn on the job, all whist getting paid. Experience > words on paper.

Kombucha posted...

Imagine being the democrat known for killing free community college. What a total tool.

Not as bad as the pos democrat that killed universal healthcare.

Cobra1010 posted...

College/universities is not the best way to go. If i ran a country, i would encourage apprenticeships. Theres no better way than to learn on the job, all whist getting paid. Experience > words on paper.

Perhaps the point of learning has less to do with creating workers than you think?

PatrickMahomes posted...

Good. People need to be aware that there is great value in a trade school. The whole bit from Community about plumbing or A/C repair is spot on. Anything in that realm will always be a necessity and will always offer lucrative work at a fraction of the cost for a degree/license/whatever you get from one of those.

Good God THIS.

As the "You gotta go to college or else you're a loser" Boomer generation fades away, along with us Gen-X suckers that believed them go into the 2nd half of our lives, the Millennial and Gen-Y generations are realizing that there really isn't a stigma attached to what you do for a living anymore, as long as it's enough to keep your family living comfortably.

Both my kids and both of my nephews (ages ranging from 18-13) all realize this. My daughter wants to work in cosmetology, and all three of the boys are all looking into becoming either plumbers or electricians.

A big issue is that online learning sucks - and having to sit through it for your last year of high school has probably convinced a lot of kids to just wait until it blows over to actually start. Which means that this fall (hopefully) classes will be mostly back to normal and we'll be having massive amounts of first year students.

No free tuition and loan forgiveness stalling I don't think are having that big an issue, since that's been an issue for decades and not causing any trouble.

Good, loans shouldn't be forgiven just because borrowers don't feel like honoring their agreement

COVxy posted...

Perhaps the point of learning has less to do with creating workers than you think?

I thought most people went to college to get a job that the want

Dat_Cracka_Jax posted...

I thought most people went to college to get a job that the want

That's never been the goal of higher education.

Go to college if you are interested in becoming a college professor.

COVxy posted...

That's never been the goal of higher education.

Regardless, It's what it has been turned into

Dat_Cracka_Jax posted...

Regardless, It's what it has been turned into

That's really up to the student. There's a slight shift in curriculum over time only because of student demands. But, by and large, that has nothing to do with what university "is".

PatrickMahomes posted...

Good. People need to be aware that there is great value in a trade school. The whole bit from Community about plumbing or A/C repair is spot on. Anything in that realm will always be a necessity and will always offer lucrative work at a fraction of the cost for a degree/license/whatever you get from one of those.

so you do this by killing community college?