PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, the number of low-income high school graduates who went on to college this past fall dropped nearly 11.5%.
One reason: Many blue collar working parents lost jobs during the pandemic.
“We know that rates of food insecurity, for example, and other indicators that people are having real trouble paying their bills are rising," said Sara Goldrick-Rab, President and Founder of the Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice at Temple University.
"When that’s happening in a household, the odds of going to college go down. It’s quite clear."
Related
Goldrick-Rab has also seen the trend of how students have lost jobs.
“It is hard to make ends meet. Every able-bodied adult and or teenager in the household contributes," she said.
“They’re working not only to pay for what you might call frivolous expenses like a game they want to play or go to a movie, but they’re working to feed their families.”
Additionally, fewer families submitted the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
“One of the first indicators that you can get that fewer low income students are coming to college, is that fewer are filling out the FAFSA," Goldrick-Rab noted.
There has also been a decline in the number of first-generation applicants. Those students often rely on guidance counselors to help with the application process. But learning has been mostly remote.
Related
Goldrick-Rab said this all could all lead to a cycle of poverty as students delay college entry.
“Every year that you don’t go college, the odds that you’ll ever go (to college) goes down," she said.
"Delaying is not typically about going to Europe for fun. Delaying is typically that people have gone to work. And once you’ve started working and that part of your life has begun, the chances that you’ll ever go to college decline.”