Salt Lake Community College is trying to find ways to combat a drop in U.S. undergraduate college enrollment, which has decreased nationwide by more than one million students since fall 2019, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
Largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all higher education institutions have seen enrollment numbers fall, but community colleges have seen the biggest decrease. According to a November 2021 report from the NSCRC, 14.8% less students enrolled in a community college when compared to 2019, whereas four-year public institutions saw a 4% decrease.
SLCC faces a downtrend in enrollment that is higher than the national average. The latest numbers reveal an 18% drop in the same time frame, according to Debbie Summers, the college’s database reporting manager.
“Everybody has gone down,” Summers said, adding that the college compares itself to 38 peer institutions, all of which are experiencing low enrollment. “We’re hoping it’ll pick up, but we haven’t seen it. It’s hard to know what to project.”
According to a 2019 report from the SLCC Board of Trustees, 63% of institutional funding came from state taxes. Summers said the amount of money allocated to the college by the state depends largely on enrollment numbers, which makes enrolling students — and keeping them enrolled — essential to allowing the college to operate.
“If we don’t bring in students, we don’t get money,” she said.
SLCC’s student advisory team is at the forefront of the college’s effort to keep students enrolled, but they can only help if students choose to speak to them.
“I have not seen a change in student attitudes about being enrolled; the excitement levels are the same,” said Gordon Storrs, who has been an advisor at SLCC in the School of Arts, Communication, and Media for nearly 10 years.
Storrs said although the students’ perception of college could be a factor in dropping enrollment rates at SLCC, it has more to do with money than anything.
“The majority of people leaving are leaving because of financial reasons, or because life gets too complicated,” Storrs said. “This is especially the case during COVID, but in my experience, most students — if they come talk to an advisor — we can figure it out and make that student successful.”
Lack of funding is the most common reason that students give up on college, according to ThinkImpact, which reported that 38% of college dropouts nationwide are due to student financial difficulties.
Because of the pandemic, the federal government issued emergency funds for students through bills such as the CARES Act. Storrs advised students to talk to an advisor about funding programs that they may not already know about.
“If I could give a struggling student advice, it would be to meet with an advisor and get a pep-talk,” he said, explaining that advisors offer a number of services, from pathway planning to free counseling vouchers for students struggling with their mental health.
“It’s also very important for students to find out what they want to do,” Storrs said. “If students can get excited about something, that’s the biggest thing.”
How about those vaccination mandates? Think that could be the problem?
If money is the main reason for low enrollment, I wonder if there is a relationship between low college enrollment and low staffing for part time jobs? Are students expecting their tuition to be paid for? How do you hold someone accountable if they don’t have anything to lose? Would the people who said, “It’s financial” or “Complicated” for not attending school, attend if it was free? Is the rite of passage of working while you put yourself through college on the brink of extinction? Will we no longer hear “Well in my day I had to work and…” or “You think you have it rough?”
Tens of millions of people lost their jobs due to the pandemic. If you were fortunate you could work from home without fear of losing your livelihood. But what about the unfortunate? Many were creative and found an alternative source of income. As I scrolled through YouTube in search of a DIY video, I came upon a video with close to four million views in a matter of weeks. Was this an educational or instructional video? No, it was a woman half dressed pretending to build a cabinet. On average one can earn $5,752 per million views. So, you have to ask yourself, work a nine to five or go to school for a degree you may not use or use what the good lord gave you making money with minimal effort?
About a year and half ago I had an opportunity to speak to high school leadership class and asked, if given the opportunity how many of you would want to be a YouTube influencer? Every hand raised and there was an audible and visual excitement that filled the classroom. Several of the students were speaking over each other in an attempt to tell me about their favorite influencer. Due to the age gap, I did not quite understand this reaction. After doing some research I found you can make a decent living on YouTube looking like a complete idiot with very little education, why go to school?
Another issue I would like to bring up is our education systems inability to evolve with the changing times. Why are general education classes still a requirement? If someone wants to be a front-end web developer, is it pertinent to know about the Baroque period or a tribe in a remote area of South America? There was probably a time when these topics were important but not in the competitive world we live in today. When was the last time the topic of stoic philosophers of the early 3rd century BC was discussed at a dinner party you attended or at your job?
Personally, I think people just need to work more now. It is about money. The stress that comes with working and going to school is already so intense, and now it’s even harder as wages don’t pay enough for us to stay afloat.
It couldn’t be because college campuses have become indoctrination day camps instead of educational facilities?
Comments are closed.