More than a third of community college students have vanished in the United States

[dfrecore]

Okay. I can see certain areas decreasing. But overall the US population is growing and is much higher than it was 50 years ago. I understand consolidation and geographical areas gaining and losing populations, but it blows my mind to think less kids are in school today than 50 years ago. I’m not saying that it’s not the case because I haven't done the research to confirm or dispute. It just baffles me if it is. That is why I asked the question.

Part of the reason for the increased population numbers is people live longer than they used to, and with such a large numbers generation (boomers) now at the higher end of age spectrum it is really showing their power reflected in the numbers. Less 'new' people but still many already counted 'old' people in the mix. Add to that many people are having children later in life, and fewer children per household when they do have them - it keeps the 'new' people numbers lower than previous generations. https://www.marketplace.org/2021/05/19/h...h-problem/

My elementary school had to go year-round in the late 70's/early 80's because there were too many kids and not enough space; then it was closed years ago, due to declining population, and an old school.  The school district now runs an adult education facility there.  This kind of thing happens all the time - there are more people, but not more children in the US now.  I live in an area where there's growth, but that certainly isn't the case everywhere in the US.