A quarter of last year’s high school graduates have postponed attending college amid the coronavirus pandemic, largely because of the ensuing financial concerns, according to a recent survey.
Junior Achievement and Citizens, which polled 2,000 U.S. teens between the ages of 13 and 19 who are not in college and 500 teens who graduated from high school in 2020, CNBC reported.
Jack Kosakowski, president and CEO of Junior Achievement, said students and their families are questioning whether there’s a proper return on their investment in attending college.
“We’ve had this ‘college thing’ up on a pedestal,” he said, CNBC reported. “As costs have gone up, it’s forcing people to take a more realistic view.”
A separate survey of high school students found the likelihood of attending a four-year institution dropped nearly 20% in less than a year — down to 53%, from 71%, according to ECMC Group, a nonprofit aimed at student borrowers, CNBC reported. Additionally, the survey said higher schoolers are emphasizing career training and post-college employment.
