College Admissions Face A Steep Decline
Photo by Miranda Duarte
Are we turning away from higher education?
As someone who works with the admissions department at Pacific, I have witnessed firsthand the amount of effort that goes into getting high school students to apply to college. Here at Pacific we have an entire staff of counselors dedicated to assisting prospective students in their process. These counselors travel, not just nationwide, but across the globe to different high schools presenting and pitching Pacific to students. On campus, they host events for prospective students, and each and every counselor works all day during the University’s Admitted Students’ Days.
Tens of thousands of dollars are put every year into events like Admitted Students’ Days to ensure that prospective students enroll! After all, admissions are important, especially at a smaller institution like Pacific. If a consistent and large decline in admissions occurred for too long, then we could risk running out of money. While Pacific is not at risk of this now, and will not be for a while, it is important to realize how impactful admissions are. A college needs students to be a college!
In spite of all this effort, admissions are down nationwide. While I was unable to find the exact statistics from the University, I have heard from many professional staff on campus that Fall 2025 admissions saw a decline from the high numbers of the previous year. While declining numbers nationwide can be attributed to “the demographic cliff” (the prediction of a decline in college enrollment due to a drop in births after the 2008 recession), I believe that the current administration also has an impact on what college-aged students are choosing to do with their futures.
The Trump administration has made higher education an even more unlikely dream for many students across the country by implementing things like stricter qualifications for student loan forgiveness, limitations on how much student loans can be taken out, and making it more difficult for students to pay back their debts. This makes higher education unattainable for many students, which could ultimately lead to a shrinking of their worldview. Trump’s targeting of higher education is seemingly due to his belief that college campuses are experiencing an increase in “radicalism.”
College is not just a place where you earn a bachelor’s degree. It is also a place that expands your worldview. For many students, going to college is their first time away from home and hearing perspectives that differ from their own. Higher education is vital, especially during our current administration, because it gives students the opportunity to branch out politically and socially. A Pew Research Study found that 54% of those with postgraduate experience were consistently liberal. College-educated students are not more liberal because higher education institutions are set on indoctrinating them, instead they are more liberal because college allows you to engage in critical thinking and open up to different perspectives. The current administration is working not only to make higher education unattainable, but also undesirable for high school students because of the ways in which it could change their political views.
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