Why Aren't Students Enrolling?
Top Reasons Why Students Apply But Don’t Enroll
Slightly more than one-third of the study-participants indicated they (or their child) have applied but not enrolled in college.
Role of Parental Education and Debt
The higher the participant’s parental education, the more likely they (or their child) have applied but not enrolled in college.
Black/African American participants were significantly more likely than white participants to indicate they (or their child) applied but did not enroll in college, with nearly half (46.9%) of Black/African American participants compared to only one-third (35.7%) of White participants.
Take-away
Applying but not enrolling is more common the higher the potential student’s parent/guardian education. This finding, contrary to what is expected, brings up the question of what role parental education debt plays in the drop in current enrollment trends.
Health-Related Challenges When Apply Not Enroll
Nearly half of the participants who indicated the reason they applied but did not enroll was related to a need to care for personal health or for other adults said they needed to focus on their personal mental health.
Take-away
Although people struggling with their mental health may not be swayed to enroll by information about on-campus mental health services, these findings tell us mental health struggles persist. Communicating about these on-campus services to existing students should be an ongoing practice because students struggling with their mental health who take a break from school may not return.
Fear of Not Being Prepared
One in 10 or more do not apply because of fear of not being prepared for math or for courses other than math.
Take-away
To increase student enrollment (especially among Hispanics), being able to provide information on how institutions support student education including tutoring services could increase confidence. Along with emphasizing that the applications must be submitted before deadlines to increase financial aid, this could increase enrollment.
Take-Away
Informing potential students and their parents about the impact on their financial aid if they meet all the deadlines, and providing deadline information when students enroll (so they are aware for the next year) could increase enrollment. This information would allow for more informed decision-making and decrease indefinite postponements.
Having a list of classes students could/should take in their first year readily available to students in their welcome/new student communications would also contribute to increasing enrollment.