US college enrollments are falling, except for graduate degrees
I&#x27;m sure the reasons for this trend are incredibly complex, but I suspect that undergraduate degrees are increasingly failing to accurately signal competence, pushing those wishing to distinguish themselves to pursue graduate studies.<p>So many factors are leading to increased number of undergraduate degrees... not limited to degree mills, grade inflation, standardized testing, and availability of virtually everything in undergrad curriculum available for &quot;reference&quot; online. This simultaneously increases the number of undergraduate degrees while decreasing the average quality. Institutions that rely on the formerly strong &quot;has a degree&quot; signal are finding that the signal is weakening. Undergraduates now failing to signal are somewhat forced to pursue more education.<p>I see the same thing happening with masters degrees. Universities seem to increasingly offer combined BS and MS programs. I don&#x27;t believe strong MS students are formed by tacking on just an extra year to a BS program.<p>Finally, another observation on STEM fields: due to the funding situation and glut of PhD&#x27;s it appears to be incredibly difficult to build a solid STEM career without a PhD. Undergrads in certain STEM areas try to leave university only to find out that they actually need more credentials to meaningfully work in the field they just spent 4 years studying for.