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Subject: Weekly Briefing: Are bleak demographic trends a new reality?
Looks like demographic challenges are here to stay.
Cristina Spanò for The Chronicle
A grim new normal. This March will mark five years since the Covid-19 pandemic shuttered college campuses. Still, the pandemic isn’t the sole reason for enrollment declines. Think changes in the labor market
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Looks like demographic challenges are here to stay.
Cristina Spanò for The Chronicle
A grim new normal. This March will mark five years since the Covid-19 pandemic shuttered college campuses. Still, the pandemic isn’t the sole reason for enrollment declines. Think changes in the labor market and growing skepticism about the value of the college degree and the 2024 FAFSA fiasco. The latest figures from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center show that enrollment of 18-year-old freshmen fell by 5 percent overall. Jeffrey J. Selingo breaks down the numbers and highlights what these changes could mean.
What’s behind today’s undergraduates’ learning challenges? Many traditional-age undergraduates, or members of Generation Z, seem to experience certain hurdles in the classroom. Professors find they don’t engage in academic work the way previous generations did. They struggle to read long texts and require more time and support to get through courses. Though a mix of forces has shaped this generation, some of their problems may stem from K-12 reforms, like an emphasis on standardized tests, and pandemic disruptions. Our Beckie Supiano has the story.
Literary studies is going conservative. That’s the argument Simon During makes in this Chronicle Review essay. During, a professor of English at the University of Melbourne, writes that this change marks a return to the foundations of the discipline. Read his argument here.
Read. The 2017 novel Exit Westby Mohsin Hamid is a love story sprinkled with magical realism about two refugees who leave a war-torn country. And yes, I’m still making my way through this list. (The New York Times)
