 Dear reader,
If you want to get a handle on the college dropout crisis, look around at the number of freshmen who don’t return as sophomores. Of the 2.6 million students who started college in fall 2019, roughly 679,000 — or 26.1 percent — didn’t come back the next year, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. That’s the highest share of students not returning for their sophomore year since 2012, and experts worry the numbers will grow larger as thousands more students leave college, some because of mental health issues, others for financial or family reasons.
It's all part of an evolving issue we at The Hechinger Report refer to as the college enrollment crash, and it’s a worrisome trend. While college isn’t for everyone, there are troubling consequences of fewer people going to college, and we are finding the pandemic may have a long-term impact on both colleges and society as a whole. We’ve also been exploring other paths toward upward mobility; I’ll be moderating a panel on that topic at SXSW.edu next month in Austin, Texas, and it’s one on which I’m eager to hear thoughts.
This week we also bring you some interesting research on a topic that relates to learning loss: online tutoring. We know it’s a booming business, but does it work? What does the research tell us? As always, if you have stories for us to consider, get in touch. And please, remind your friends and colleagues to sign up for our weekly newsletters!
Liz Willen, Editor
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