The pandemic upended what it meant to be a college student as newfound barriers to learning cropped up in spring 2020: In-person classes were forced online, family obligations became more pronounced and economic difficulties spread.
“All of these factors just came together to create this perfect storm,” says Mamie Voight, president and CEO of the Institute for Higher Education Policy, a nonprofit focused on college access. She says that students from low-income backgrounds and those with responsibilities outside of school—like jobs and kids—faced the steepest challenges.
There were 5.1 percent fewer students enrolled in fall 2021 than fall 2019, according to estimates from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. And between fall 2019 and fall 2020, the percentage of students who reenrolled fell the most since 2009.
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