Business professor identifies ‘bloated bureaucracy’ as one cause
GIGI DE LA TORRE – FRANCISCAN UNIVERSITY OF STEUBENVILLE •JULY 12, 2022
Colleges have lost 1.3 million students in the past two years according to a report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
According to the survey, college enrollment has decreased since the start of the COVID shutdowns with a 3.5 percent drop last spring semester and a 4.1 percent drop this most recent semester.
This adds to an overall 9.4 percent decrease or 1.3 million enrollment drop since the spring 2020 semester before COVID lockdowns began.
The study reported that public colleges and universities as well as community colleges suffered the greatest decrease in enrollment rates.
A management professor at Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business is not surprised by the results.
“Bloated bureaucracy on the campuses along with a perceived decline in seriousness and courage by university administrations give people pause,” Stanley Ridgley told The College Fix via email. He said Americans are asking if college is worth it and answering “no.”
He is writing a book about reforming the universities titled “Brutal Minds.”
The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center did not identify if these students simply dropped out of college or chose other career options such as trade school. While it remains unclear what these 1.3 million former students are doing now, The Fix asked Professor Ridgley if society and policy makers should be concerned about this drop in enrollment.
“In terms of maintaining a well-educated, skilled populace to keep a complex industrial economy running, sure we should be concerned that fewer Americans are opting for college,” Ridgley told The Fix.
However, with high tuition rates, Ridgley understands why people may be hesitant to attend college especially when the, “payout for a college education…just isn’t what it used to [be].”
The most important point that matters is that students have a plan, Ridgley stated.