College enrollment down due to COVID

[disneysteve]

I heard a report today that college enrollment for the fall is down a lot due to COVID. They gave a number of reasons.

Families are resistant to paying full tuition for what may turn out to be entirely online classes.

Many schools get a high number of foreign students who may not be free to travel.

Many families have been impacted economically and are hesitant to commit not knowing what their situation will be in a few months.

Schools have seen fewer accepted students commit to enrollment. They've started going down the wait list and even sending acceptances to students they had previously rejected.

[Captain Save]

hopefully people start re-evaluating going to college like they evaluate any purchase... "what am I getting out of this transaction"

[bjl584]

Makes sense, as everything is down or decreased in some way.
I wonder if this will be a more permanent situation or will revert back?

All of the trade jobs are still working for the most part.
Some high school students might be noticing that and decide to go into a trade school instead of a traditional college.

[rennigade]

Yep, we already received notice at the college I work at. A lot of universities across the board are going to be hurting. But, all the colleges around here are offering online classes for students to complete what they need to for the semester.

Colleges have preyed on students forever. Most of them forced students to attend classes on campus. This will finally wake people up that they can take a lot of classes online...then if need be, finish out the last year or two on campus. Could save parents/students a bunch of money in the long run. I dont see any benefit to this covid pandemic for universities. They're going to have to change their archaic way of thinking/conducting business. The only colleges that are immune are the powerhouse ones, ivy league, huge sports schools...it could be the end of the world and they'd still make money.

[~bs]

Makes sense. What's the point of paying $40k a year or more for college when they'll have you watch some lecture videos and take a test online?

[disneysteve]

Makes sense. What's the point of paying $40k a year or more for college when they'll have you watch some lecture videos and take a test online?

Exactly. I am a very big proponent of the college experience, but with online classes, you aren't getting the college experience so you shouldn't be paying for it. No academic library. No fitness center or pool. No theater program. No art gallery. No concerts or dance marathons or guest speakers or spring fever weekends. No homecoming or basketball games or welcome back barbecues. You're getting classes and nothing more so still charging the same amount is insane.

I think colleges will be hurting for a while. I saw another report that a lot of students are deciding to take a gap year and resume their education once things get back to normal.

[~bs]

Exactly. I am a very big proponent of the college experience, but with online classes, you aren't getting the college experience so you shouldn't be paying for it. No academic library. No fitness center or pool. No theater program. No art gallery. No concerts or dance marathons or guest speakers or spring fever weekends. No homecoming or basketball games or welcome back barbecues. You're getting classes and nothing more so still charging the same amount is insane.

I think colleges will be hurting for a while. I saw another report that a lot of students are deciding to take a gap year and resume their education once things get back to normal.

I think you guys are right in that this may be very disruptive to the traditional college model. they'll likely need to come up with 2 types of enrollments, one is largely traditional (and costs more), and the other is mainly online with possibly some in-person lab or school work (for a large discount). If enough schools are forced to move towards a model like this, then all but the ivy league schools will be forced to change. The rationale may shift to - what's the point of dragging 200 students into a lecture hall to hear a standard lecture when you can tell them to watch a recorded video of the lecture and to message or videoconference with the teacher if you have any problems or questions?

[disneysteve]

I think you guys are right in that this may be very disruptive to the traditional college model.

The think the collective COVID experience is going to be disruptive to a great many things, not just college.

[ua_guy]

I can understand why enrollment is down. College can be outrageously expensive and it is a highly immersive in-person experience which isn't recommended right now.

I think anyone who believes college is a purely economic decision is misled. Public education in this country is under-funded and it stops short of fully educating our youth. College has historically been about higher education and focused learning, picking up where public k-12 leaves off. Best of both worlds is for someone to pursue higher education AND trades, to be well-rounded and have an inventory of skills and knowledge to pull from. Going to college to get a higher paying job is a bit of a misnomer and misses a lot of the intended purpose of college, but it is an important consideration. And data shows that even people (like me!) with generic degrees from liberal arts colleges can and most likely will earn more than people without college educations and who only pursue trades. However, $25/hr right out of high school to join a trade or a union looks pretty attractive while a college student is trudging along in school for another 4 years, racking up debt, only to graduate and get an $18/hr job making copies and taking telephone calls in an industry where they never intended to work. The catch- it doesn't mean that's what the person does for a lifetime. I am my own anecdotal evidence - By 30 I surpassed my peers in trades, easily. And the gap keeps widening. And many people focus their learning in college and know what they want to do, right out the gate--and they can make great money by getting a degree.

The fact is we need a mix of skills and knowledge, and to bring up another point - I would never tell someone to do something just for the money if it isn't a fit for who they are or where they have natural talent. This is why these things can't be "just" economic decisions, although, right now, they have to be out of necessity and what's happening with the virus.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

No, I agreewith UA_Guy.Plus what people don't further say is you can go to college for much cheaper options like a Community College then transfer to a state school and live at home. Not the same college experience but if you want it for the $$$ then you do it that way. DH lived at home and went to college. He's obviously got the most bang for his buck considering he went to a canadian university and spent total like $10k USD total in tuition for 4 years. Got a degree. Went to grad school free. We paid for MBA, but now ROI we'll it's astronomical if you consider. He's making a nice hefty sum.

But we are by far outstripped by any engineer who went to work at 22 an say started out making $50k. Now at 40 is making $150k +. And never had low earning years like us we can't catch them. But in general there is a reason why they say a bachelor's earn $1M more in a lifetime of earnings. Nowadays it just shows thinking skills.It's hard to get by. Do I think it right? No. but at the same time I think people are also choosing to make college more expensive than it needs to be.

People are choosing college and not considering costs at all. NOT considering what they come out doing. NOT Considering if it's the smart move to go to a private versus public versus community college option. they go where they want to go because they want to.