College enrollments fall in California as students opt to work instead

Colleges in California have seen low undergraduate enrollment rates for the second time in a row now. These figures are mainly due to the low attendance rates in community colleges. The decline in population and pandemic pressure is said to have driven young people away from colleges and into the workforce. 

According to the data collected by The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, community college enrollments in California have dropped by 10.6% from fall 2020 to fall 2021. This is more than the national average of 6%. Graduate enrollment however noticed a slight increase. Researchers believed that the drop in enrollment was because of colleges resorting to online classes and it will pick up once regular on-campus classes resume. National Student Clearinghouse Deputy Director Doug Shapiro said that he was surprised to see that the numbers had not increased despite most colleges resuming in-person classes. 

Shapiro said that he believes multiple community colleges and even for-profit college students are opting to work instead, noting that the numbers at for-profit and online institutions have dropped as well. Due to labor shortages, employers have increased the hourly wages substantially and are offering many lucrative benefits to attract workers. Students are seeing this and concluding that working during this period is a more profitable option, especially to earn back the money they lost during the pandemic. 

Optimists believe that we can look at this from another angle; as good news. Comparatively, more community college students transferred to four-year universities. However, the incoming is still less as those who would typically enroll in community colleges are instead working middle-wage jobs. 

Source: Los Angeles Times