According to some estimates, more than a million students have decided not to go to college. This is been a recurring trend for the last few years, with a decline between 2019 and 2021 of about 6.6%.
Much of the decline has been attributed to students who graduate high school and simply choose not to enroll in college in the first place. But there are also students who were already in college who have decided to step away from that education. They may not be dropping out entirely, but they’re pausing their education and considering what they want to do.
Why is this happening?
There are a lot of potential reasons that this is happening. Some students may have been told that they needed to attend online classes and decided to wait until they could go back in person, for example. Others may have seen labor shortages and decided to go straight into the workforce.
But one also has to consider the role of student loans. With billions of dollars of outstanding debt, modern college students face a financial crisis that has never been seen before. A lot of these students are defaulting on their loans. Even those who manage to pay them may not feel that the amount they’re paying is worth what they’ve obtained.
Some of this uncertainty, along with the rising cost of tuition, could be causing some students to reconsider how wise it is to go to college. They may not want to put themselves over their head in debt just for a 4-year education, especially if it may not lead to the job that they’re seeking anyway.
If you’ve been struggling with debt, such as student loans or even something as simple as credit card debt, you always want to make sure you know what legal options you have for debt relief. You may have more options than you realize.
