The National Student Clearinghouse Center has released a preliminary report on college enrollments this fall. The report found that in the midst of a global pandemic, overall enrollments are down just 2.5 percent from a year ago. As expected due to pandemic-related travel restrictions, international enrollments are down by 11 percent.
The biggest enrollment drops have been at community colleges, where enrollments are down 7.5 percent. Enrollments at public four-year colleges and universities showed only a tiny decline. Graduate enrollments appear to be up across the board, possibly due to the lack of employment opportunities in an economy that has taken a major hit.
The report also shows enrollment decreases by racial and ethnic group. Black and White student enrollments are down by more than 6 percent. But Asian and Hispanics student enrollments are down by just 3 percent.
Black graduate school enrollments are up by 8.4 percent, nearly double the increase for White students in graduate schools. Hispanics American enrollments in graduate school are up by 14.2 percent.
I hope those graduate degrees those students are getting are going to get them jobs. Otherwise, they’re just building up a lot of debt and postponing taking the same jobs they could now.