NEW YORK, May 19 (Xinhua) -- A Wall Street Journal analysis of 748 U.S. public four-year colleges and universities in all 50 states showed that full- and part-time enrollment at the most prominent state universities increased 9 percent in 2023 compared with 2015, but at lesser-known regional state universities, enrollment fell 2 percent -- the shift represents tens of thousands of students who have abandoned struggling college towns.
Meanwhile, "college towns are now threatened by federal-funding cuts from the Trump administration, resulting in hiring freezes and layoffs at Ivy League and state schools alike," the newspaper reported on Sunday. "Administration efforts to cancel student visas might hurt state college budgets, since most international students pay higher, out-of-state tuition."
Even worse, the number of students graduating from American high schools is expected to start falling next spring, after reaching a record high this year. In 2007, the number of U.S. births peaked at 4.3 million and has been falling almost every year since, according to the report.
In addition, among metropolitan areas especially reliant on higher education, three-quarters of them suffered weaker economic growth between 2011 and 2023 than the United States as a whole, according to an analysis by Mark Muro and Shriya Methkupally at Brookings Metro, a nonprofit think tank in Washington, D.C.
"For generations, colleges around the U.S. fueled local economies, creating jobs and bringing in students to shop and spend. Growing student enrollment fattened school budgets and freed universities from having to worry about inefficiencies or cutting costs," added the report. "The student boom has since ended, and college towns are suffering." ■
