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CANOODLING_SOCIOPATH t1_j1164ej wrote

When the unemployment rate is low, like it currently is, colleges like WCSU typically struggle. There are a lot of marginal college students who weigh the choice between going, or continuing to go, to college and getting a job, and right now they can pretty easily get a decent paying job. So many of them are going to decide to take a job instead of going to college.

You can see in the article that enrollment peaks from 2008 to 2012 and then declined as the economy improved.

These colleges need to plan for this cycles. When there is an economic downturn and enrollment skyrockets they should not expect that to continue indefinitely or attribute those numbers to the universities performance. And when those enrollment numbers crater when there is a 3.7% unemployment rate then they should not assume that is the permanent state of affairs.

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SirKnightRyan t1_j11g4sb wrote

Demographics are also a factor, we built up colleges for the millennials, but gen z who are currently in college are the smallest adult US generation.

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matt_fusion t1_j13kfux wrote

I don’t know man, I’ve met some pretty tall Gen Zers.

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Blue-Philosopher5127 t1_j126w0h wrote

Yea this 100% has more to do with demographics. This problem will continue to get worse for schools and big schools are already planning for it. They have been predicting this for a long time and there have been tons of articles on it.

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