Downward Spiral on Enrollments - Doug Lederman, Inside Higher Ed

The several-year decline in enrollment in American colleges and universities continued and arguably intensified this fall, driven by sharp dips in numbers of students at for-profit colleges, full-time students at community colleges and students aged 24 or more, according to new data from the National Student Clearinghouse. The overall decline in enrollment represented a decrease of about 340,000 students, to 19,280,473 in fall 2015 from 19,619,773 in fall 2014. Of that drop, more than half occurred at four-year for-profit institutions, which experienced a decline of about 180,000 students. "As in the previous two years, the decline is driven by students over the age of 24." https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/12/16/decline-postsecondary-enrollments-continues-and-speeds