High school grads shun college for blue-collar jobs: Enrollment drops 62% as job growth in restaurants, theme parks and other hospitality industries soars
- About 62% of U.S. high school graduates ages 16-24 enroll
- The unemployment rate for 16-19 year olds in April 2023 was 9.2%
- Various blue-collar majors saw increases in two-year programs this spring
Young people seem to be fleeing traditional universities, with declining enrollment and increasing numbers of teenagers taking jobs or attending two-year institutions to study more blue-collar pursuits.
According to the Labor Department, about 62% of U.S. high school graduates between the ages of 16 and 24 enrolled in a four-year college this year, up from 66.2% in 2019.
While this was the year before the pandemic, the numbers have declined from their peak in 2009, when 70% enrolled in a traditional university.
The numbers appear to contrast with community college enrollment and the increase in two-year majors and community colleges and trade schools.
The unemployment rate for 16-19 year olds in April 2023 was 9.2%, the lowest on record in the country since 1953.
Young people appear to be fleeing traditional universities, with declining enrollment and increasing numbers of teenagers taking up jobs or attending two-year institutions to study more blue-collar pursuits
This number reached 30.2% at the start of the pandemic, but has mostly declined since.
When entering the labor market, young people who work in leisure and hospitality jobs with wages that have increased by 30% for seasonal workers from 2019 to 2023 and by 20% for year-round employees .
After two consecutive years of declining enrollment, community colleges saw a half percent increase in 2023.
Similar to four-year colleges, two-year schools peaked in enrollment shortly after the 2010 stock market crash and have been falling ever since.
Notably, four traditionally blue-collar majors saw big increases last spring.
Computer and information science and support services increased by 9.7%, mechanical and repair technologies/technicians by 8.2%, personal and culinary services by 9.7% and transportation and transportation of materials by 11.8%.
Years of steep decline have hit community colleges across the country. Community college enrollment rose 0.5% from a year earlier, after falling 8.2% and 10.1% in 2022 and 2021.
Overall enrollment in undergraduate programs fell 1.4% this spring.
According to the Labor Department, about 62% of American high school graduates between the ages of 16 and 24 enrolled in a four-year college this year.
Notably, four traditionally blue-collar majors saw big increases last spring.
‘If you can get [a job] without a BA and with decent salary growth, why go for a BA? asked Pollak, ZipRecruiter’s chief economist.
Pollak suggests that being able to find work during the pandemic has allowed young people to postpone college and, having found success, they may not return.
“The pandemic has disrupted the university so much that many people have delayed their departure. Once they delay, they become addicted to earning and working and don’t return ‘to college,’ Pollak said.
Nearly 60% of 18-34 year olds said a four-year college degree was not a good investment, according to the the wall street journal.
Women remain less skeptical of four-year colleges than men, with two-thirds of women enrolling last year, but nearly 10% fewer men.
Doug Shapiro, director of research and executive director of the National Student Clearinghouse, said the numbers appear to be a response to both inflation and the changing nature of the university.
“Opportunity costs seem to continue to rise for students at all levels,” he said. Axios.
“Colleges and universities, like the rest of us, really need to think differently about the kinds of students they can enroll and the kinds of programs and services they need to be able to offer to bring in these students.”
