The economic downturn has had an impact on more than just pocket books. It's also had a tremendous impact on college and university enrollment. Though this isn't unexpected, the kind of shifts we're seeing are a little out of the ordinary.
Generally, severe downswings in the economy (like we saw back in 1980 and for those of you with longer memories, back in 1975) lead to job loss across wide sectors of industry. This means that many individuals seeking employment in unaffected sectors (say health care or nursing) will seek training in these other fields. This is good for colleges and universities as they typically see an upswing in enrollments during these recessionary periods.
The interesting thing this time out is that the uptick in enrollment is not occurring across the board. In fact, most of the new enrollments are occurring at two-year colleges (in continuing education, certificate and short-term degree programs).
What does this mean? It's probably too early to determine any real connection, but I can speculate. I have a feeling that the worry right now isn't about entire industries shutting down (as it has been in prior recessionary periods). I think that many of these new students are more concerned with shoring up their existing skills and finding ways of maintaining their tenuous hold on employment as opposed to retraining for entry into an entirely different field.
As we move forward, if the economy does not change, this enrollment pattern may change. But for right now, I believe that many individuals have more faith in the current job market than has been predicted; and retrenchment cerainly isn't a bad idea. In the short term, it's a very good idea! What will happen five years from now, I won't even try to predict.
Until next time!
Lynn Byrne
Preparing for college admissions? Trying to find direction? Need a little help with the planning? Check out my college planning series:
- College Planning Made Easy--the planning and preparation workbook for the take charge, college-bound student,
- Paying for College Made Easy--a college financing guide designed to assist students and families in preparing and planning for higher education expenses; and
- The Great Scholarship Search--my guide for students and parents researching and applying for scholarship funding.
