Whether it's due to the rising cost of tuition, the fear of student debt or simply finding a job that doesn't require a degree, fewer people are going to college.
After steadily rising since the 1970s, college enrollment began declining in 2011, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
The data shows total undergraduate enrollment hit a high in 2010 at nearly 18.1 million students.
By fall 2022, the latest data available from NCES, about 15.4 million students were enrolled in college -- a nearly 15% drop from 12 years earlier.
One theory is that students are forgoing postsecondary education to take advantage of job opportunities that have improved since the pandemic. As companies struggle to fill roles that require the most in-demand skills, many have eliminated requirements for a degree.
Another factor is cost. The average tuition cost continued to rise again for the 2023-2024 academic year across both public and private schools, according to U.S. News. Per the report, the average in-state cost of tuition and fees to attend one year at a public four-year college is $10,662 -- nearly 75% less than the average sticker price at a private college, which costs $42,162. And that doesn't even account for the cost of housing, food and books, which can run thousands of dollars a year.
Students are also beginning to question if college is worth it. Even if supplemented with financial aid and scholarships, the cost of tuition alone is enough to scare some away from attending college all together, least they graduate under a mountain of ballooning student loan debt.
In any event, there doesn't seem to be an end to the decline in sight. Enrollment numbers are expected to keep taking a hit as the number of Americans of traditional college-going age is expected to dramatically drop in 2025, The Hill reported.
While schools across the country have been grappling with declining enrollment numbers for years, they've been left to find ways to attract and retain students.
Some universities have partnered with area businesses to allow students to earn academic credits toward a degree for their on-the-job experiences, much like they offered for corporate training or military experience. As students receive credit for work experience and what they already know, they can receive their degree earlier and pay a lower rate than traditional students.
Of course, programs like that only go so far. What about the students who are totally focused on school and aren't holding down a job?
EAB, a consulting firm specializing in education institutions, conducted over 235 tests with 145 individual schools across 1.2 billion annual student and parent interactions to identify six "tried-and-true college enrollment best practices proven to work even in today's competitive enrollment environment."
"Today's higher education recruitment landscape --shaped by the pandemic -- has enrollment leaders using every trick in their playbook to meet their student enrollment goals," EAB explained in a blog post. "And as new marketing practices emerge almost daily... college admissions offices are left with an overwhelming list of student recruitment and enrollment methods to try."
EAB said these strategies have led to a 6% average increase in enrollments among its first-year partners:
1. Start your student recruitment activities as early as possible
2. Personalize student communications
3. Involve parents in the college search
4. Make the students, not your college, the focal point of your recruitment messaging
5. Design for a mobile-first college enrollment experience
6. Integrate digital ads and voice search into your channel mix