US College Enrollment Rates 'Plummet'... Doubts Over Effectiveness of Remote Classes

[Asia Economy Reporter Byunghee Park] It has been confirmed that the number of freshmen at U.S. universities significantly decreased last year. This is analyzed to be because students who doubted the effectiveness of remote classes, which spread due to COVID-19, gave up on enrollment.

According to a report published on the blog of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis on the 22nd (local time), the number of university freshmen enrolled last fall decreased by 13.1%. The total number of university students enrolled dropped by 3%.

Sharp Decline in Freshman Enrollment at U.S. Universities [Image Source= Bloomberg]

The reason for the decline in university enrollment rates appears to be the impact of COVID-19.

The report's author pointed out, "Usually, when the economy is in recession, enrollment rates tend to rise because the desire to find a job decreases," adding, "It is unusual that enrollment rates are falling now." He further analyzed, "Students enrolled less because they could not properly experience university life and the effectiveness of online classes was low."

Some universities tried to attract students by lowering tuition fees as they switched to online classes, but it was in vain.

The number of returning students decreased by 1.3%. On the other hand, the number of graduate students increased by 3.6%, the largest increase since 2009. It seems that many students chose to stay in school as it became harder to find jobs due to the economic recession.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.