A Recent Study Revealed That Fewer Young Men Are Choosing To Pursue College, With A Gradual Decline Of Four-Year College Enrollments Over The Past Decade
For people of past generations, going to college was like a rite of passage. Young white men were especially encouraged to go to college as soon as they graduated high school, get their degrees, and get a good job so they could put food on the table for their families.
There are probably a lot of American men born after World War II who could tell you that they felt obligated to go to college or pursue some form of higher education as they got older.
However, recent statistics have suggested that young men are beginning to give up on the traditional ‘four-year college’ route after graduating high school after the number of male enrollments has started to decline at American colleges.
According to a study done by the Pew Research Center, there’s been a gradual decline in the number of young men enrolling at four-year colleges over the last decade.
For instance, in 2022, the number of 18 to 24-year-old men enrolled in college was down by around 1.2 million since 2011.
The statistics are pretty jarring when you look at the number of male students versus female students side by side.
While around one million fewer men attend college, only 0.2 million fewer young women attend college.
In 2011, young men made up approximately 47% of young college students, and in 2022, they made up 44% of students.
The reasons as to why this could be happening vary. Of course, there is the issue that college is too expensive for many young men these days.
Drazen – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person
But others feel like they simply do not want to go to college, some manage to find career opportunities that do not require a college degree, etc.
Regardless, according to surveys conducted by reputable sources like the Pew Research Center, fewer young men are going to college.
As time passes, it will be interesting to see how the job markets and other aspects of the economy and higher education evolve if these numbers continue to decline.
When you graduated from high school, did your parents make you feel as though you had to go right to college?
You can read the study’s complete findings here.
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