College Students Abandoning Low-Ranked Schools and Low-Earning Majors

Fewer students are going to college, leading many to worry that young Americans are abandoning higher education and risking their future. But while college enrollment has plunged by more than 3 million since 2010, those “missing students” aren’t necessarily losing out. That’s because most of the drop in college enrollment has occurred at institutions with the worst student outcomes. At high-quality colleges, enrollment has actually increased.

College is often treated as a monolith — but as more and more evidence shows, there is considerable variation in the quality of education in different institutions. While some colleges reliably set up their graduates for success in life, others fail to even graduate most of their students. And the students lucky enough to earn degrees may find that those sheepskins don’t help them land a decent-wage job or pay down their student loans.

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Preston Cooper

Preston Cooper is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

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Fewer students are going to college, leading many to worry that young Americans are abandoning higher education and risking their future. But while college enrollment has plunged by more than 3 million since 2010, those “missing students” aren’t necessarily losing out. That’s because most of the drop in college enrollment has occurred at institutions with the worst student outcomes. At high-quality colleges, enrollment has actually increased.

College is often treated as a monolith — but as more and more evidence shows, there is considerable variation in the quality of education in different institutions. While some colleges reliably set up their graduates for success in life, others fail to even graduate most of their students. And the students lucky enough to earn degrees may find that those sheepskins don’t help them land a decent-wage job or pay down their student loans.