Enrollment in education after high school peaked in 2010, with 21 million students enrolling in two-or four-year degree programs that fall. Since then, enrollment has steadily declined, and even projections that predict a modest increase in the coming years top out at 20 million enrollees in 2031. The steepest declines in enrollment were seen at two-year colleges, where enrollment dropped by more than one-third between 2010 and 2020.
Beth Akers is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and the author of Making College Pay: An Economist Explains How to Make a Smart Bet on Higher Education.
