College enrollment declines for third straight year since pandemic

washingtonpost.com

18 points·makerofspoons··3 comments

I'm not saying other factors are irrelevant but there is a largely unnoticed but very predictable force at work here. There are simply fewer and fewer prospective students in absolute numbers every year.

https://www.populationpyramid.net/united-states-of-america/2...

The wealth gap is continuously increasing, and the cost of education is far from affordable or managable. It's heartbreaking to think that a person has to choose between rolling with an education or a crippling debt that's unlike any other (can't declare bankruptcy).

Imagine being a kid being told you can be whatever you want when you grow up. Only to face the reality while still young.

People are starting to see how overpriced most degrees are. They're effectively High School+ at this point, with the knowledge that is attained in most degrees pretty comparable to what one would get repeating 12th grade several more times, except not at home and now you have to pay a lot of money for the pleasure.

There are still some degree paths where college absolutely makes sense and the degrees provide actual value, but they are clearly in the minority now. For everything else, you can learn it from YouTube for free.

Also, we really need to do more to tax these astronomical endowments these overpriced predatory institutions are sitting on.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com