Wonder why?
College enrollment is down nationwide, from about 17 million in 2020 to 15.9 million in the latest data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center—a big historical change.
“With the exception of wartime, the United States has never been through a period of declining educational attainment like this,” says Michael Hicks, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University.
Source: The Political Right Is Slamming the Door on College Access | EdSurge News
Their explanation for the decline?
- Republicans
- Right wing
- Libertarians
- The Koch Brothers
- Conservative Commentators
- Fox News
There is not one mention of the decline in the college age population due to dramatic changes in population demographics. The author, Robert Ubell, has completely missed the target. Instead, he’s written a political piece blaming the right for everything under the sun. Good grief.
In Maine, they are seeing a large decline in enrollment. Like most schools, they blame it on the pandemic. Other colleges blame it on low unemployment and high wages leading to some questioning the return on investment of a college education.
But at least in this news article about Maine’s problem, they noticed the root cause:
Declining university enrollment is the result of multiple factors. Maine, with the oldest population in the country, has seen smaller high school graduating classes over time. Additionally, data from recent years show that fewer Maine students who do graduate from high school have been enrolling in college.
Maine universities expect fewer students this fall (bangordailynews.com)
Robert Ubell, a former college engineering Dean (who should know better), says the decline is solely due to the right wing. Is there a polite way to say someone is a political hack, out of date, or just an idiot?
