College Enrollment Falls As Economy Recovers
By Dr. Marciene Mattleman
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The enrollment boom for American colleges is over, with a 2% drop in enrollment in 2012-13 and more expected except for for-profit and community colleges.
While the wealthiest schools were not hardest hit, Loyola University in New Orleans and St. Mary's in Maryland are examples with the usual deadline of May 1st for acceptance, that are still reaching out for students.
College attendance grew slowly for two decades, then climbed quickly from 15.2 million students in 1999 to 20.4 million in 2011. Those numbers are attributable to higher high school graduation rates, a 20% increase in the number of college age kids, and more foreign students.
When the recession began in 2007 more people enrolled, mostly adults, in community colleges. But then the growth hit its peak with better job prospects making college less attractive.
Read more in The New York Times.
