'Losing A Generation': Fall College Enrollment Plummets For 1st-Year Students

[Sciencewoman]

^^^ Similar to your daughter's experience, it's the older members I'm seeing who are going alum early. There were also some who disassociated when the year started, or didn't return. Every single one of our new fall members has signed a contract to live in the house next year -- they are eager for socialization! However, recruitment numbers were down, so we're going to see reduced total next year, I'm sure.

I just saw the latest enrollment and fall application report for my university, which our Admissions/Registrar's office produces monthly. Applications for next fall are slightly up...very slightly...the early apps were down compared to last year, but the fall 2021 application graph is almost identical to this fall's.

Enrollment for winter is down about 7% right now, and it's the juniors and seniors who have the largest drop off. The freshman are holding steady.

I also would like to put in a plug for my profession and say that the large majority of professors have worked really hard to adapt classes to the current context, with little time to prepare/pivot and little advance training and equipment to assist with different teaching modalities they're doing from home. The amount of time I spent preparing, recording videos to supplement synchronous instructions, and attending instructional technology trainings this past summer resulted in 12 hour work days almost every day. I never worked so hard in my life. This has been incredibly stressful, and the professors in my department have worked so hard, and they are anxious about students' welfare and learning. I've only fielded two student complaints all semester. All this to say that when I hear refrains of college students "teaching themselves," that has not been what I've seen as a professor or a parent. I think there's more self-direction and personal organization required, but not necessarily self-teaching.