Colleges in the 1980s

Archive Report

Enrollment Trends

Sharp Falloff in Enrollment Anticipated

College isn't what it used to be. No longer is it a bastion for 18- to 22-year-old white males from upper-income families. Most college students now are women. Most freshmen are enrolled in two-year community colleges, the low-budget newcomer to postsecondary education. Students older than age 25 account for more than one-third of all college enrollments. Largely because of this older group, 40 percent of all students now are part time. Enrollment of blacks and other minorities grew faster over the last decade than any other segment of the campus population, accounting for one out of every seven students.1

While these figures represent historic changes in American higher education, they amount to little more than statistical curiosities to parents struggling ...

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