College enrollment drops to 62% as job growth in restaurants, theme parks and hospitality industry

Young people seem to be avoiding traditional universities, enrollment is declining, and an increasing number of teens are taking jobs or going to two-year institutions to study more work.

About 62 percent of U.S. high school students ages 16 to 24 enrolled in four-year college this year, up from 66.2 percent in 2019, according to the Labor Department.

Although that was the year before the pandemic, the number is down from a peak in 2009, when 70 percent enrolled in a traditional university.

The numbers seem to contrast with enrollments in community colleges and the increase in two-year majors and community colleges and vocational schools.

The unemployment rate for 16- to 19-year-olds was 9.2 percent in April 2023, the lowest since 1953 in the country.

That number peaked at 30.2 percent during the early times of the pandemic, but has largely fallen since then.

When they enter the workforce, young people taking on leisure and hospitality jobs with wages increasing by 30 percent between 2019 and 2023 for seasonal workers and 20 percent for year-round workers.

After two consecutive years of declining enrollments, community colleges will see a half-percent increase in 2023.

As with four-year colleges, two-year schools peaked in enrollment shortly after the market crash in 2010 and have been declining ever since.

In particular, four traditionally blue collar majors saw big increases last spring.

Computer and information science and support services increased 9.7 percent, mechanics and repair technologies/technicians 8.2 percent, personal and culinary services 9.7 percent, and transportation and material moving 11.8 percent.

Years of sharp declines hit community colleges across the country. Community College enrollment increased 0.5% from the previous year, following declines of 8.2% and 10.1% in 2022 and 2021.

In total, the enrollment percentage of Bachelor’s programs fell by 1.4 percent this spring.

About 62 percent of U.S. high school students ages 16 to 24 enrolled in four-year college this year, according to the Labor Department

In particular, four traditionally blue collar majors saw big increases last spring

‘If you can get it [a job] why would you get a BA without a BA and with a decent salary increase?’ asked ZipRecruiter chief economist Pollak.

Pollak suggests that finding work during the pandemic allowed young people to put off college and that once they found success, they might not come back.

‘The pandemic disrupted the university to such an extent that many people postponed their studies. Once they put it off, they become addicted to earning and working and they don’t come back to college,” Pollak said.

Nearly 60 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds said a four-year college degree wasn’t a good investment, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Women remain less skeptical about four-year colleges than men: two-thirds of women enrolled last year, but nearly 10 percent fewer men.

Doug Shapiro, the research and executive director of National Student Clearinghouse, said the numbers appear to be in response to both inflation and the changing nature of the university.

“The opportunity cost seems to continue to rise for students at all levels,” he said Axios.

‘Colleges and universities, like all of us, really need to start thinking differently about the kind of students they can enroll and the kind of programs and services they need to be able to offer to attract those students.’