Generation of American men are giving up on college

“In the next few years, two women will earn a college degree for every man, if the trend continues,” stated Douglas Shapiro, executive director of the research center at the NSC.

Entangled in debates over gender and racial equality, American colleges have yet to reach an agreement on what might slow the retreat of men from higher education. There is little campus support for spending resources to boost male attendance and retention.

No college wants to tackle the issue under the glare of gender politics. Campuses maintain conventional views.

“Men make more money, men hold higher positions, why should we give them a little shove from high school to college?” asked college enrollment consultant Jennifer Delahunty, who previously led the admissions offices at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, and Lewis & Clark College.

Yet, the stakes are too high to ignore. The pandemic seems to have accelerated the trend. A Journal analysis found that nearly 700,000 fewer students were enrolled in colleges in spring 2021 compared with spring 2019, with 78% fewer men.

The decline in male enrollment during the 2020-21 academic year was highest at two-year community colleges. Family finances are believed to be one cause. With millions of women leaving their jobs to stay home with children when schools shut down, many turned to their sons for help. Colleen Coffey, executive director of the College Planning Collaborative at Framingham State University in Massachusetts, stated that some men quit school to work.

Another problem coming up is that male students tend to have no after high school plans, or they don’t see the point of a college education. Men around the U.S. report that they quit school or didn’t enroll because they didn’t see enough value in a college degree for all the effort and expense required to earn one.

Although American college graduates earn more than $1 million beyond those with only a high-school diploma, skyrocketing education costs have made college riskier today than for past generations. Many young men who dropped out of college said they worried about their future but quit school with no plan in mind.

Daniel Briles, an 18 years old, graduated in June from Hastings High School in Hastings, Minn. During his senior year, he decided against college despite earning a 3.5 grade-point average and winning a $2,500 college scholarship from a local veterans organization. Instead, he took a landscaping job where he takes home about $500 a week.

“Many young men are hobbled by a lack of guidance, a strain of anti-intellectualism and a growing belief that college degrees don’t pay off,” stated Ed Grocholski, a senior vice president at Junior Achievement USA. “What I see is there is a kind of hope deficit.”

Because schools are focused on encouraging historically underrepresented students, young men get little help when it comes to college. On top of that, skyrocketing education costs have made college riskier today than for past generations, which potentially saddles graduates in lower-paying careers with student loans they can’t repay.

Mental health counselor and men’s outreach coordinator at the University of Vermont, Keith E. Smith stated that when he started working at the school in 2006, he found that men were much more likely to face consequences for the trouble they caused under the influence of drugs and alcohol. In 2008, Smith proposed a men’s center to help male students succeed. The proposal drew criticism from women.

“Why would you give more resources to the most privileged group on campus?” asked one woman.