America's Colleges Are Hurtling Toward an Enrollment Cliff

fortran77

https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/college-admissions-dem...

toomuchtodo

Based on a preponderance of the evidence, I don't believe this is a problem considering the issue of "elite overproduction." The US is arguably already producing too many college graduates, and those students are incurring substantial debt for unnecessary credentials. ~4 million students graduate from U.S. postsecondary/postgraduate programs each year, as of this comment, half of which don't require or otherwise cannot use those credentials for employment. Talent Disrupted (2024) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49279800 - August 2026 > A 2024 report by the Burning Glass Institute and Strada Institute for the Future of Work found that, a year after graduation, about half of US college grads were in jobs that “do not require a degree or make meaningful use of college-level skills.” Report: https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6777c52f82e5471a3732ea25/... College Grads Struggle to Find Jobs. Non-Grads Are Giving Up - https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2026-08-12/colleg... | https://archive.today/ccseC - August 12th, 2026 The Elite Overproduction Hypothesis (2025) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48015504 - May 2026 Half of College Graduates Are Working High School Level Jobs - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39512160 - February 2024

vondur

We are already seeing it in the California State University system. Many of the universities have plummeting student enrollment. I suspect Sonoma State will be the first to be closed. More will follow them. Our local school districts have lost more than 40% of their students from the high water mark in the early 2000’s.

maxglute

Why go into debt when most knowledge worker's lifetime productivity will likely be replicable by a few dollars of compute. TFW out competed by sand.

4d4m

Good. These institutions are being recognized for the very little they actually are. Market repricing to near $0 in progress.