Back in 2012, I predicted that higher education could be the next industry to go bust (face a major decline)
https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2012/07/college-reform.html
Just like there was a tech-bust in the early 2000's and the even more devastating housing-bust of 2008, there has been a prediction that higher education is the next industry to face a sharp decline!
Greater expenses, a slow economy and more exposure to stories of recent grads struggling have been causing the next generation to be more reluctant to attend college!
Colleges can only raise tuition so much, otherwise less students will attend.
Loan agencies struggling to receive pay-backs from struggling graduates can easily lead them to bankruptcy! Once that happens, there will be less sources for college loans, less financial aid available!
And the next generation might think "college? too much humbug, why bother?"
All that will hit all the colleges hard!
Guess what?
That time has arrived!
According to an Associated Press article, more and more young adults are skipping college and choose to go straight into the work world!
And it's not just the slackers, even some of the high-achieving students are opting out of college.
Collin Binkley, “Jaded with Education, More Americans Are Skipping College,” Yahoo! News, March 8, 2023 https://news.yahoo.com/jaded-education-more-americans-skipping-050531419.html
Hart is among hundreds of thousands of young people who came of age during the pandemic but didn’t go to college. Many have turned to hourly jobs or careers that don’t require a degree, while others have been deterred by high tuition and the prospect of student debt.What first looked like a pandemic blip has turned into a crisis. Nationwide, undergraduate college enrollment dropped 8% from 2019 to 2022, with declines even after returning to in-person classes, according to data from the National Student Clearinghouse. The slide in the college-going rate since 2018 is the steepest on record, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
just one of many examples from the article
Before the pandemic, Boone Williams was the type of student colleges compete for. He took advanced classes and got A's. He grew up around agriculture and thought about going to college for animal science.
But when his school outside Nashville sent students home his junior year, he tuned out. Instead of logging on for virtual classes, he worked at local farms, breaking horses or helping with cattle.
“I stopped applying myself once COVID came around,” the 20-year-old said. “I was focusing on making money rather than going to school.”
When a family friend told him about union apprenticeships, he jumped at the chance to get paid for hands-on work while mastering a craft.
And now some politicians are looking at removing the college degree requirement at various state jobs.
Here's an example mentioned in the NY Times.
New York Times Editorial Board. "See Workers as Workers, Not as a College Credential." New York Times. March 8, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/28/opinion/jobs-college-degree-requirement.html
Making college more affordable is important, but there are other keys to the doors of opportunity as well. With an executive order issued on Jan. 18, his first full day as governor, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania used one of them: He eliminated the requirement of a four-year college degree for the vast majority of jobs in the state government, a change similar to one that Maryland and Utah made last year.
and this
His move opens up 92 percent of state government jobs — approximately 65,000 positions — to anyone with “the relevant work experience and skills-based training, regardless of their educational attainment.” Job postings will emphasize experience over education.
The nonprofit organization Opportunity@Work has been promoting the idea of skills- and experience-based hiring since 2015. It estimates that 50 percent of the American work force comprises workers who have gained their skills through alternative routes such as apprenticeships, military service, trade schools, certificate programs and on-the-job training rather than acquiring bachelor’s degrees — a deep pool of underutilized and undercompensated talent. If employers don’t have a strategy for engaging this pool, said Byron Auguste, the group’s chief executive and co-founder, “they don’t have a talent strategy — they only have half a talent strategy.”
I have mixed feelings about all this!
I do agree that work-experience should count when applying for more advanced opportunities too! A lack of college degree doesn't always mean a lack of comptence! If a person has a proven track record for the responsibilities, then that person should be deemed qualified for the job.
However, I am a college graduate and I do feel college can be an amazing experience beyond just getting a diploma. I definitely feel that those who can go should.
I loved the college life. I loved going to classes. I loved having discussions inside and outside of class. I loved meeting people on campus inside and outside of class. I love the cafeterias on campus. And the libraries were my second home. And when I needed a break from the library, the campus has its quiet spots to rest & chill!
And I definitely loved the events (well, at least before the pandemic made crowded events awkward).
But I can't totally blame those who feel they can better support their families by going directly into the workforce after high school. And the horror stories of people struggling with student loan debt are making more people say "No thanks" to college.
The article doesn't mention this, but you don't have to be in your late teens or early 20s to start college.
Many people start their young adulthood in the work world and decided later on that it's time to go back to school.
Some of those who didn't take education seriously during adolescence do decide in their 30s (or even later) that now they're ready to go back to school. And they come back with a new sense of maturity and eagerness that they didn't have before.
Here's one example of that, this being a testimonial from Tina Oh, who started college later in adulthood with a new eagerness to learn that she admits wasn't there during adolescence.
Tina Oh . "The Scholarship Motivated Me." University of Hawaii Foundation. August 3, 2018. https://www.uhfoundation.org/impact/students/scholarship-motivated-me
My advice for anyone walking my path is to put in the work. Never give up. Believe in yourself. In English 21-22, we had to memorize words and definitions. “I know nothing,” I said. “My education stopped in ninth grade.” I got index cards, and I just studied them over and over and over. That’s how I built my study habits, and later, when I was taking other classes, after my mommy duties, I would sit there and study no matter what, and it became a habit.
Today, I’m in my second semester at UH Mānoa in the human development and family studies program. I just started in June; I had to drop down to half time again because of my new job. I don’t want to stop my education, so I have to do what I have to do for now.
I work for the Hawaii Health & Harm Reduction Center, doing homeless outreach. I connect homeless people to housing, or I take them to a treatment center. Two weeks ago, we put 17 people into shelters.
In other words, I'm not ready to give up on those who are opting out of college right after high school!
At the same time, I definitely believe that we need to make college more affordable so that those who want to go can go!
If I had a magic wand, I would make all state colleges (from community colleges all the way up to the universities) free for all state residents. And also provide them grants for living expenses while attending, that way, they can focus on academics and not have to worry about survival.
(Those who want to go out-of-state or go to private colleges can still find scholarship opportunities.)
But for those who want to opt-out of college, I respect their right to do that too!
There's more than one path to success and college isn't the only one.
