college attendance

Education
Economy
National

A looming 'demographic cliff': Fewer college students and ultimately fewer graduates

5:00am January 08, 2025

The long-predicted downturn in the number of 18-year-olds is almost here. And it isn't just a problem for higher education. It's a looming crisis for the economy.

Rates of "summer melt" are highest for students from lower-income backgrounds, especially if their own parents didn't go through the college application process.

Science

Summer Melt: Why Aren't Students Showing Up For College?

10:31pm June 18, 2018

As many as 40 percent of students who intend to go to college don't show up in the fall. Education researchers call this phenomenon "summer melt," and it has long been a puzzling problem.

According to a new study, among families in the middle socioeconomic group the older, September-born kids were 2.6 percent more likely to attend college and 2.6 percent more likely to graduate from an elite university.

National
Education

Oldest Kids In Class Do Better, Even Through College

8:26pm August 18, 2017

by John Ydstie

Starting kindergarten later could boost kids' grades and improve their odds of attending a top college. Being the youngest kid in class can hurt their academic performance.