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Given that many of the LLIs located on college and university campuses
are already squeezed for space, the following information, taken from
the November 7, 2003 issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education,
may be of interest.
• Many public colleges and some private ones are reporting record
numbers of students this year, so much so that some are considering
capping their enrollments.
• More students than ever are graduating from high school, especially
in the West and Southwest, and that increase is projected
to continue for at least the next several years.
• Among two-year colleges, the growth has led at least some to reconsider
their traditions of accepting all students.
• Private four-year colleges are also reporting higher enrollments.
• In the Midwest, by comparison, some colleges are reporting unexpected
declines in enrollment.
• The increasing numbers of college students in much of the country
are posing space problems on some campuses.
• Enrollment at community colleges is soaring nationwide, as both
traditional and non-traditional students seek new skills to
cope with a tough job market.
• State budget cuts have hit schools hard. As a result, some schools
have had to cap enrollments, cut classes, or limit the number
of sections offered.
• Some states expect the number of students graduating from high
school to grow significantly over the next decade, producing
more college applicants. In other states the number is expected to drop.
Below are the projected changes in the number of high school
graduates from 2003-04 to 2011-12.
| 10% + |
5%-9.9% |
0%-4.9+ |
| Virginia |
New Jersey |
New York |
| Georgia |
Maryland |
Maryland |
| Arizona |
Kentucky |
Delaware |
| California |
Tennessee |
Indiana |
| Nevada |
Illinois |
Alabama |
| Idaho |
Texas |
Mississippi |
| North Carolina |
Utah |
Arkansas |
| |
Washington Oregon |
New Mexico |
| |
|
Colorado |
| |
|
Hawaii |
| –0.1% to -4.9% |
–5% to –9.9% |
–10% or more |
| Massachusetts |
West Virginia |
Maine |
| Connecticut |
Wisconsin |
New Hampshire |
| Rhode Island |
Iowa |
Vermont |
| Pennsylvania |
South Dakota |
North Dakota |
| Ohio |
Nebraska |
Montana |
| Michigan |
Oklahoma |
Wyoming |
| Missouri |
|
Alaska |
| Kansas |
|
|
| Minnesota |
|
|
| Louisiana |
|
|
| South Carolina |
|
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The report goes on to say that, “More than two thirds – 69%
- of Baby Boomers are interested in undertaking learning activities in the
future, more than double the figure for the 55 and over age group.”
The report goes on to say that they want to learn at home or at a university
or college – not in the workplace. The trend towards third age learning
comes out strongly from the statistics assembled in the report. The trend
is created partly, as authors Julia Huber and Paul Skidmore put it, by the
“emergence of an infrastructure (including organizations such as LearnDirect
and the University of the Third Age) to support it.” If this is
the case in the United Kingdom then we can hope that knowledge about the
learning in retirement movement here in North America will continue to
trickle down to the Baby Boomers as they begin approaching retirement
age, thus ensuring a steady stream of new members for LLIs everywhere.
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August 29, 2008
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