Grayson Hart constantly saw a college degree in his future. He went to an excellent high school and was a decent student. He considered becoming a teacher or an actor. Growing up, he thought the only way to get a decent job, financial security, and a happy life was to go to college.
The pandemic made him reconsider.
Hart is in charge of a youth theater program in Jackson, Tennessee, a year after graduating from high school. Every college he applied to accepted him, but he rejected them all. Although cost was a major consideration, a year of distance learning offered him the time and confidence he needed to choose his own course.
There were many of us affected by the pandemic, and we tended to think that we could solve the problem on our own. Why would I spend all this money on a piece of paper that wouldn’t truly help with what I’m doing at the moment?
Hart is one of the thousands of teenagers who reached adulthood during the pandemic but chose not to attend college. Others have been discouraged by expensive tuition and the potential of student debt, while many have switched to hourly employment or vocations that don’t require a degree.
What appeared to be a pandemic blip at first has developed into a crisis. According to data from the National Student Clearinghouse, undergraduate college enrollment decreased nationwide by 8% between 2019 and 2022, with decreases continuing even after students resumed attending in-person classes. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the decline in the percentage of students enrolling in college since 2018 is the steepest on record.
The effects might be disastrous, according to economists.
At worst, it might represent a younger generation that has little faith in the worth of a college education. It looks like individuals who skipped college during the pandemic are doing so permanently, at the very least. They haven’t enrolled after a year or two, despite predictions to the contrary.
The lack of qualified workers could intensify in industries like information technology and healthcare. According to Georgetown University’s Center for Education and the Workforce, those who choose not to attend college often have lower lifetime earnings – 75% less as compared to those who acquire bachelor’s degrees. Also, persons without degrees are more likely to lose their jobs when the economy declines.
Zack Mabel, a scholar at Georgetown University, said, “It’s definitely a frightening idea for the strength of our national economy.
Several educators, scholars, and students characterized a generation that was disillusioned with educational institutions in interviews with reporters. Several of those who were mostly left on their own in remote learning took on part-time work. Other people believed they weren’t learning anything, and the thought of going to school for another four or even two years didn’t appeal to them.
The nation’s student debt has increased at the same time. Young Americans have been particularly concerned about the issue as President Joe Biden attempts to erase massive amounts of debt, a move that the Supreme Court appears set to thwart.
Hart had imagined attending Penn State to pursue musical theater. His family supported him, and he attended a private Christian high school where attending college was expected.
Nonetheless, he began to pursue his creative interests more after lessons were moved online. The pressure of school subsided as he experienced a fresh sense of independence.
I thought, “OK, what is this thing that isn’t on my back all the time?” said Hart. “I can engage in activities that I enjoy. I have the ability to carry out significant tasks. And I seemed to be enjoying life more and relaxing more.
Both public and private schools were affected. Other guidance counselors and principals expressed horror at the sight of graduates applying in droves for work at Amazon warehouses or scraping by in the gig economy.
Jackson has seen a significant change, with just four out of ten of the county’s public high school graduates enrolling in college right away in 2021 as opposed to six out of ten in 2019. The nation as a whole had a dip from 66% to 62%, but that decline is far more pronounced, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Leaders in Jackson claim that young people are pursuing higher-paying jobs in restaurants and retail. Manufacturing firms that have aggressively hiked wages to fill shortages are hiring some of them.
Vicki Bunch, the director of workforce development for the local chamber of commerce, observed that students “can’t seem to resist” sign-on bonuses and salaries that are significantly more than anything they have previously experienced.
There is considerable concern in Tennessee that the decline will only get worse with the inauguration of numerous new factories. The biggest will make electric trucks and batteries in a $5.6 billion Ford facility close to Jackson. Its construction is already attracting young people, and it guarantees the creation of 5,000 jobs.
Daniel Moody, 19, was sought out to manage the plant’s plumbing after graduating from a high school in Memphis in 2021. He’s happy he skipped college because he’s now making $24 per hour.
“I would be dead broke if I had gone to college after school,” he stated. “You won’t be making the kind of money we’re making out here while you’re trying to go to college,” he said.
Prior to the epidemic, college enrollment rates in America were typically on the up. Rates decreased despite an increase in the number of high school graduates in the country and economic turmoil, which generally encourages more people to pursue higher education.
Education authorities in Tennessee issued a “call to action” after discovering that only 53% of public high school graduates were attending college in 2021, far less than the national average. It was a surprise for a state that in 2014 made community college free, which increased the rate of students enrolling in college. It hasn’t been this low since at least 2009.
Education officials traveled the state last year in search of solutions and learned that the ease of employment opportunities combined with concerns about student debt made college less appealing.
This generation is different, according to Jamia Stokes, senior director of the nonprofit organization SCORE. “They approach their work, as well as how they spend their time and money, with more pragmatism.”
The majority of states are still gathering information on current college rates, but preliminary numbers are alarming.
During the pandemic, the percentage of recent high school graduates attending college in Arkansas decreased from 49% to 42%. Kentucky fell by a comparable percentage, to 54%. The higher education commissioner in Indiana issued a warning that the “future of our state is at peril” after the most recent data revealed a 12-point decline from 2015 to 2020.
The statistics for Black, Hispanic, and low-income pupils, who had the biggest declines in several states, are even more concerning. Only 35% of Hispanic and 44% of Black graduates in Tennessee’s class of 2021 attended college, as opposed to 58% of their white counterparts.
There is a slim chance that the worst is over. Freshmen enrollment in US colleges increased modestly between 2021 and 2022. Yet, both that number and the overall college enrolment are still much below pre-pandemic levels.
According to Scott Campbell, executive director of Persist Nashville, a charity that provides college mentoring, many students became lost in the bustle of the pandemic.
Some kids experienced academic drop-offs and felt unprepared for college. Others lost access to professors and counselors who guide them through the challenging process of applying for federal student aid as well as college applications.
Pupils believe that their schools have failed them, according to Campbell.
Mia Woodard remembers sitting in her bedroom in Jackson and attempting to complete a few online college applications. She said that no one from her school had discussed the procedure with her. She was only certain of her Social Security number as she read through the forms.
Woodard, a multiracial student who changed high schools to escape racist harassment, said that none of them ever brought up college to her. “It could be that they didn’t trust me,” I said.
She claims that the colleges have not responded to her. She ponders whether to place the responsibility on her spotty Wi-Fi or on herself for not giving the correct information.
According to Greg Hammond, a spokesman for the Jackson school system, there are many opportunities for kids to learn more about higher education, including an annual college fair for seniors.
Mia was a vulnerable pupil, according to Hammond. For high school pupils in this category, our school counselors offer additional support. To students who don’t use these services, it can be challenging to offer postsecondary planning and help.
Woodard now works at a restaurant and lives with her father. She had intended to be the first person in her family to earn a college degree. She is searching for a second job so she can support herself financially. Then perhaps she will pursue her ambition of earning a degree in culinary arts.
She described her chances as still being somewhat 50/50.
The fact that more young people are seeking educational opportunities other than four-year degrees, according to experts, is the only encouraging development. The need for apprenticeships in the trades, which often produce certificates and other credentials, is increasing in several areas.
The Department of Labor reports that following a decline in 2020, the number of new apprentices in the U.S. has nearly returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Boone Williams was the kind of student that colleges competed for before the pandemic. He earned As in his advanced courses. He was raised in an agricultural area and considered studying animal science in college.
Yet, during his junior year, he tuned out when his school outside of Nashville sent students home. He didn’t log on to take online courses; instead, he helped out at nearby farms by breaking horses or tending to cattle.
The 20-year-old claimed, “After COVID came around, I stopped applying myself. “I was putting less emphasis on going to school and more on getting money.”
He leaped at the prospect to get compensated for doing hands-on labor while becoming an expert in a skill when a family friend told him about union apprenticeships.
He is currently employed by a plumbing business and attends night classes at a Nashville union.
Williams admitted that the income is low, but he anticipates eventually making far more money than his peers who chose low-paying jobs right out of high school. He even believes he’s in a better financial situation than other college graduates since he knows too many who left school early or took on debt for degrees they never used.
I’m going to be far better off than any of them in the long run, he declared.
Hart claims that now that he is back in Jackson, he is working on projects he loves and supporting the expanding arts scene there. He still ponders what comes next. His salary isn’t particularly higher, but it’s adequate for stability. He occasionally finds himself considering Broadway, but he doesn’t have a specific plan for the following ten years.
I do worry about the future and how it might pan out for me, he admitted. We’ll take it one step at a time; I’m trying to tell myself right now. I’m good where I am.
