US Colleges Have Never Had This Happen

Enrollment is absymal

College enrollment has never dropped like this. America has woken up (in a good way this time).

The chickens are coming home to roost.

This could be good news for the socialists because they can rarely find a way to eat.

Attendance is down for one reason, and one reason alone, the customer does not see value in what colleges are producing.

Many of them are weak, granola-eating, vegans so they might have to find something else to do.

As more fake DEI administrators lose their careers we might have to repurpose them for something more useful, like this…

Colleges across the country are blaming labor shortages, poor employment opportunities, and lack of funds for the failing institutions they run.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The only thing keeping student attendance low is the political indoctrination taking place on campuses.

College professors and administrators are at odds with their students in terms of who thinks their education is preparing them for the real world.

It’s something professors don’t seem aware of: Almost two-thirds (64%) of instructors said they believe their institution is preparing students well for their professional life, but just 46% of students agreed. [Fortune]

When the employment rates go down, typically more people attend college, not less. That’s not happening this time around.

A major shift in the mentality of our nation’s youth is taking place.

“There were a lot of us with the pandemic, we kind of had a do-it-yourself kind of attitude of like, ‘Oh — I can figure this out,’” he said. “Why do I want to put in all the money to get a piece of paper that really isn’t going to help with what I’m doing right now?”

Hart is among hundreds of thousands of young people who came of age during the pandemic but didn’t go to college. Many have turned to hourly jobs or careers that don’t require a degree, while others have been deterred by high tuition and the prospect of student debt. [Fortune]

Fortune laments the decline in the perceived usefulness of a college degree.

Humanities and social sciences are on the decline for good reason.

Business, IT, and vocational studies are still useful.

MBAs still serve a purpose, right?

Elon Musk disagrees.

He has admonished MBAs for their lack of real-world practical skills.

There is some truth to this.

We should be encouraging independence, reasonable levels of risk-taking, and critical thinking skills.

Most of that would involve getting kids/adults out of the classroom.

Project-oriented studies, following students’ interests, and job shadowing would be more useful.

Famed author John Taylor Gatto says the problem with mandatory schooling is that it aims to create unquestioning, dependent, and obedient citizens — not free thinkers.

Community Colleges

Small, local, educational institutions are getting hit the hardest.

With scant advising, many community college students spend time and money on courses that won’t transfer or that they don’t need. Though most intend to move on to get bachelor’s degrees, only a small fraction succeed; fewer than half earn any kind of credential. Even if they do, many employers don’t believe they’re ready for the workforce.

Although community colleges are far less expensive than universities, people can’t leave fast enough.

… consumers are abandoning them in droves. The number of students at community colleges has fallen 37% since 2010, or by nearly 2.6 million, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.

“The reckoning is here,” said Davis Jenkins, senior research scholar at the Community College Research Center at Teachers College, Columbia University. (The Hechinger Report, which produced this story, is an independent unit of Teachers College.)

What’s crazy about these numbers is that they include high school students seeking higher education. So, there are even fewer adults seeking higher ed. How can community colleges possibly survive?