College enrollment hits peak of 11.5 million

October 31, 11:04 AMDC Parenting College Students ExaminerSuzanne Mims

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George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia
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If you are the parent of a high school senior, you are in the midst of an anxiety-ridden fall as your student prepares college applications, followed soon by a dreadful waiting period for 'the letters.'  If it feels as though the competition for acceptance is peaking, an analysis released this week by the Pew Research Center confirms that enrollment has increased and is now at an all-time high. 

How many college students?

Your college student is just one of 11.5 million enrolled in college.  A whopping 39.6 percent of 18-24 year-olds was enrolled in either a four-year or two-year college in October 2008, up from 38.8 percent in 2007 -- compared to just 24 percent in 1973.   This 2008 figure represents an all-time high.

It is not the four-year colleges that are seeing their numbers rise, however.  Enrollment at four-year colleges remained fairly flat from 2007 to 2008, despite the tuition increases of about 5 percent.  So where are these students going?  The current spike in the numbers has taken place almost entirely at two-year colleges.

Enrollment at two-year colleges in October 2007 hovered at 3.1 million or 10.9 percent of all 18-24 year-olds.  In 2008 that figure rose dramatically to 3.4 million or 11.8 percent.

It's the economy

Unemployment has more than doubled in the last 10 years, hitting a 25-year high this September of 9.8 percent.  College-aged youth are particularly hard-hit.  Only 46 percent of 16-24 year-olds were employed in September 2009, the lowest number since 1948 when the government started tracking those figures. 

During hard times, community colleges offer a distinct advantage:  lower costs.  In Northern Virginia for example, students at the four-year George Mason University pay $8,024 for tuition and fees in-state or $24,008 out-of-state.  By contrast, tuition and fees at Northern Virginia Community College are $3305 in-state and $8547 out-of-state.

When you compare those dollars to tuition and fees at private colleges, the contrast becomes even more striking.  At the private Amherst College, tuition and fees are $38,928 and at Georgetown, $39,036.  Harvard comes a little less, at $36,826.   For room and board at those schools, add another $11,000 or so.

For more information:

"College enrollment hits all time high, fueled by community surge,"  Richard Fry, Pew Research Center, October 29, 2009

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