The number of students enrolling in college has declined in the U.S., continuing a several-year-long trend.
According to the latestfigures from the National Student Clearinghouse, overall higher education enrollment is down 1.7% from last year. That's close to 300,000 students.
Researchers came to that conclusion after tracking enrollment data from almost all degree-granting institutions that are eligible for federal aid.
The group's executive research director points to a few factors for the results. One is a strong job market enticing students into the workforce. Another is a smaller high school graduate pool, likely due to the declining birth rate.
Graduate programs saw an enrollment boost of 2% from last year, but it wasn't enough to make up for the other losses.
Even though the analysis indicates an overall downward enrollment trend, some experts say it might not be representative of the larger picture. That's because the drop is due largely to declines in certain sectors: community college and four-year for-profit institutions.
One Forbes contributor suggests the findings show student debt and high tuition costs aren't stopping students from signing up, pointing out that enrollments for community college, typically the least expensive option, are down.
The National Student Clearinghouse estimates that there are about 17.5 million undergraduate and graduate students across the nation.
