Rewrite this article from the perspective of an incoming freshman.

A little-understood backlash against higher education is driving an unprecedented decline in enrollment that experts now warn is likely to diminish people’s quality of life and the nation’s economic competitiveness, especially in places where the slide is most severe.

“With the exception of wartime, the United States has never been through a period of declining educational attainment like this,” said Michael Hicks, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University’s Miller College of Business.

There are 4 million fewer students in college now than there were 10 years ago, a falloff many observers blame on Covid-19, a dip in the number of Americans under 18 and a strong labor market that is sucking young people straight into the workforce.

But while the pandemic certainly made things worse, the downturn took hold well before it started. Demographics alone cannot explain the scale of this drop. And statistics belie the argument that recent high school graduates are getting jobs instead of going to college: Workforce participation for 16- to 24-year-olds is lower than it was before Covid hit, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, or BLS, reports.

Focus groups and public opinion surveys point to other, less easily solved reasons for the sharp downward trend. These include widespread and fast-growing skepticism about the value of a degree, impatience with the time it takes to get one, and costs that have finally exceeded many people’s ability or willingness to pay.  

There has been a significant and steady drop nationwide in the proportion of high school graduates enrolling in college in the fall after they finish school — from a high of 70% in 2016 to 63% in 2020, the most recent year for which the figure is available, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

The decline is even worse in some states, though not all have data for the same periods of time.

The proportion of high school graduates in Tennessee who are going directly to college, for example, has fallen to 53% — down 11 percentage points since 2017. In Indiana, it dropped to 53% in 2020, down 12 percentage points from five years earlier and a pace state Commissioner for Higher Education Chris Lowery has called “alarming.”

Americans are increasingly dubious about the need to go to college. Fewer than 1 in 3 adults now say a degree is worth the cost, according to a survey by the nonprofit Strada Education Network, which conducts research into and financially supports ways of expanding access to higher education.

Meanwhile, months of discussion about whether the Biden administration will forgive all or some student loan debt has had the unintended consequence of reminding prospective learners how much people before them had to borrow to pay for college.

So has the fact that many of their parents are still paying back their own student loans.
From 2015 to 2019, Americans’ faith in higher education dropped more than their confidence in any other institution measured by the Gallup polling organization — an extraordinary erosion of trust, considering that this list includes the presidency, Congress, big business and the criminal justice system.

“There’s anti-elitism, anti-institutionalism, a perception that cost is out of control,” said Stephanie Marken, a partner in Gallup’s education division.

The problems have been evident for years, but colleges and universities in general have done little to address them.

They continue to advertise prices that few consumers actually pay but that discourage many from applying. They bury students in red tape, which is especially confounding for the increasing number of would-be applicants whose parents never went to college. And they often fail to make clear connections between academic disciplines and careers or keep up with the demands of the fast-moving labor market. 

A degree does, in fact, still pay off. Workers with bachelor’s degrees earn 67% more than people with only high school diplomas, according to the BLS. More than half of “good jobs” — those with salaries of at least $35,000 for workers under age 45 and $45,000 for people  45 to 64 — call for bachelor’s degrees, the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce estimates.

Yet since the start of the pandemic, the proportion of 14- to 18-year-olds who think education is necessary beyond high school has dropped from 60% to 45%, the nonprofit Educational Credit Management Corporation.

The pandemic only deepened the fears of students already struggling with self-confidence and skeptical about college, said Thea Cole, who also counsels students for Advise TN. “Their GPAs have suffered. So some of them are, ‘I don’t know if I can get in,’ or, ‘It will be too hard.’ ” Her colleague, Portia Cook, was more blunt: “My kids have a shorter fuse. When things start getting complicated, they’re done.” 

It’s not only recent high school graduates who are turning their backs on higher education. The number of Americans over 24 who are going for the first time or returning to college has also steadily declined, by 12% in the five years from the spring of 2017 to the just-ended spring semester. 

The United States has already fallen from second to 16th since 2000 among developed nations in the proportion of 25- to 34-year-olds with bachelor’s degrees. Countries ahead of it have increased their bachelor’s degree attainment during that time by an average of 177%, an analysis by an institute at the University of Pennsylvania found.

Even before the pandemic, the nation was facing a shortage of more than 9 million college-educated workers over the next decade, affecting nearly every state and costing nearly $1.2 trillion in lost economic output, the center-right American Action Forum estimated. 

Economic rivals “could wish nothing better but to see the share of [American] adults who go to college drop by 12 percentage points,” Hicks said. “It is literally cataclysmic.”


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yahaan tak ki jab main college kii is yatra ko shuru karata hum, to main aapako bataa saktaa hum ki main ghabara rahaa hum.maine college jane vaale hai skool snaatakon kii giravat ke bare main sab padhaa he.koi bhi apane mata -pita yaa khud ko us samay or paise kharch karne ke liye nahin chahta he.mujhe nahin pataa tha ki is vishay ke bare main itani khabar kyon thi.main vyapaar ke liye neeche utar gaya or shodh karnaa shuru kar diya.aakhirkaar, main is yatra par jane vaala hum or main jaananaa chahta hum ki main khud ko kya kar rahaa hum.

sabase pehle, arthvyavastha badboo aa rahi he.america arthvyavastha kuch samay ke liye neeche kii ore dhalaan par he.iskaa kya matlab he?internet par score karte hue, mujhe centre for bijness and iconomic research and ball state uniwarsity ke nideshak se kuch jaankaree mili.maaikel hiks ne kaha, "yuddh ke apwaad ke saath, sanyukt rajya america is tarah se praapt hone kii avadhi ke madhyam se kabhi nahin rahaa he."iskaa arth kya he?mujhe yakeen nahin he, isliye mujhe kuch or khudaai kerani thi.vartmaan main, ek dashak pehle college main 4 million kam chaatr hai.beshak, Covid-19 ne in numberon ko chot pahunchaai.college jane ke bajaay adhik yuva log kaarybal main chale gaye.vah avadharana mujhase sahamat nahin he.main college se pehle ek antaraal varsh chahta tha, lekin aisa nahin tha jisamen kaam karnaa shaamil tha.

mahamari se pehle bhi, college ke aavedan ghatane lage.ham har cheez ke liye mahamari ko dosha nahin de sakate.alag -alag focus samoohon or surveykshanon se pataa chalaa ki log andeh karte the ki college kii degree un parinaamon ko sabit karegi jo kuch ke liye bhugtan karne ke liye taiyaar the.aankade bataate hai ki teen main se ek ko nahin lagata ki degree paise kii raashi ke laayak he.iske bare main socho.jab mere mata -pita college gaye, to kuch rajyon main laagat $ 30,000 se kam thi.ab, meri college kii shiksha rin ke saath $ 50,000 ke kareeb hogi jo mujhe us din tak pareshaan karegi jab tak main mar nahin jaataa.worth ke bare main baatcheet mere doston or unke mata -pita ke saath baar -baar aati rahati he.jab mere mata -pita skool gaye, to har koi college gaya.yadi aap college nahin gaye, to aapako ek chutad mana jaataa tha.ab or nahin.ab mata -pita ko raahat milti he agar unka baccha college se baahar nikal jaataa he.

chaatr rin.mere pita kii shuruyaat mat karo.vah pichley 20 varshon se apane rin kaa bhugtan kar rahe hai.aisa lagata he ki vah hameshaa bhugtan karegaa.jabaki mere mata -pita yah pataa lagane ke liye intjaar karte hai ki kya sarkaar chaatr rin ko maaf kar degi, ve har maheene ghadi kii kal kii tarah bhugtan karte hai.yah mujhe kam se kam main apil nahin karata he.kalpana kiijie ki kya aapane ek car kharidi he, lekin kabhi bhi iskaa bhugtan nahin kiya, chaahe kitne bhi saal biit gaye.aap 20 saal tak car kaa bhugtan kyon karnaa chahenge?college alag nahin he.jo log college se snaatak bhi nahin karte hai, unhen abhi bhi chaatr rin kaa bhugtan karnaa padataa he.yah ek vaastavik apmaan he.kya aapako lagata he ki vishvavidhyalay is mudde ko sambodhit kar rahe hai?nahin.

kuch udyogon main degree hona vastav main aavashyak he.yah bhi sach he ki college ke grad adhik banaate hai.haalanki, college ke aavashyak hone ke bare main ravaiya gaiyr -laabhakaari shaikshik credit prabandhan nigam ke anusaar 60% se 45% tak gir gaya he.yahaan tak ki jo log pehle se hi college ke liye patibaddh hai, ve is nirnay par andeh kar rahe hai.
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<|user|>
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<|assistant|>
yahaan tak ki jab main college kii is yatra ko shuru karata hum, to main aapako bataa saktaa hum ki main ghabara rahaa hum.maine college jane vaale hai skool snaatakon kii giravat ke bare main sab padhaa he.koi bhi apane mata -pita yaa khud ko us samay or paise kharch karne ke liye nahin chahta he.mujhe nahin pataa tha ki is vishay ke bare main itani khabar kyon thi.main vyapaar ke liye neeche utar gaya or shodh karnaa shuru kar diya.aakhirkaar, main is yatra par jane vaala hum or main jaananaa chahta hum ki main khud ko kya kar rahaa hum.

sabase pehle, arthvyavastha badboo aa rahi he.america arthvyavastha kuch samay ke liye neeche kii ore dhalaan par he.iskaa kya matlab he?internet par score karte hue, mujhe centre for bijness and iconomic research and ball state uniwarsity ke nideshak se kuch jaankaree mili.maaikel hiks ne kaha, "yuddh ke apwaad ke saath, sanyukt rajya america is tarah se praapt hone kii avadhi ke madhyam se kabhi nahin rahaa he."iskaa arth kya he?mujhe yakeen nahin he, isliye mujhe kuch or khudaai kerani thi.vartmaan main, ek dashak pehle college main 4 million kam chaatr hai.beshak, Covid-19 ne in numberon ko chot pahunchaai.college jane ke bajaay adhik yuva log kaarybal main chale gaye.vah avadharana mujhase sahamat nahin he.main college se pehle ek antaraal varsh chahta tha, lekin aisa nahin tha jisamen kaam karnaa shaamil tha.

mahamari se pehle bhi, college ke aavedan ghatane lage.ham har cheez ke liye mahamari ko dosha nahin de sakate.alag -alag focus samoohon or surveykshanon se pataa chalaa ki log andeh karte the ki college kii degree un parinaamon ko sabit karegi jo kuch ke liye bhugtan karne ke liye taiyaar the.aankade bataate hai ki teen main se ek ko nahin lagata ki degree paise kii raashi ke laayak he.iske bare main socho.jab mere mata -pita college gaye, to kuch rajyon main laagat $ 30,000 se kam thi.ab, meri college kii shiksha rin ke saath $ 50,000 ke kareeb hogi jo mujhe us din tak pareshaan karegi jab tak main mar nahin jaataa.worth ke bare main baatcheet mere doston or unke mata -pita ke saath baar -baar aati rahati he.jab mere mata -pita skool gaye, to har koi college gaya.yadi aap college nahin gaye, to aapako ek chutad mana jaataa tha.ab or nahin.ab mata -pita ko raahat milti he agar unka baccha college se baahar nikal jaataa he.

chaatr rin.mere pita kii shuruyaat mat karo.vah pichley 20 varshon se apane rin kaa bhugtan kar rahe hai.aisa lagata he ki vah hameshaa bhugtan karegaa.jabaki mere mata -pita yah pataa lagane ke liye intjaar karte hai ki kya sarkaar chaatr rin ko maaf kar degi, ve har maheene ghadi kii kal kii tarah bhugtan karte hai.yah mujhe kam se kam main apil nahin karata he.kalpana kiijie ki kya aapane ek car kharidi he, lekin kabhi bhi iskaa bhugtan nahin kiya, chaahe kitne bhi saal biit gaye.aap 20 saal tak car kaa bhugtan kyon karnaa chahenge?college alag nahin he.jo log college se snaatak bhi nahin karte hai, unhen abhi bhi chaatr rin kaa bhugtan karnaa padataa he.yah ek vaastavik apmaan he.kya aapako lagata he ki vishvavidhyalay is mudde ko sambodhit kar rahe hai?nahin.

kuch udyogon main degree hona vastav main aavashyak he.yah bhi sach he ki college ke grad adhik banaate hai.haalanki, college ke aavashyak hone ke bare main ravaiya gaiyr -laabhakaari shaikshik credit prabandhan nigam ke anusaar 60% se 45% tak gir gaya he.yahaan tak ki jo log pehle se hi college ke liye patibaddh hai, ve is nirnay par andeh kar rahe hai.</s>
