US College Enrollment 3-11-23

In 1965 10% of the population were college graduates. All courses were occupational.

In 1970 college enrollment in the US was 27.5%.

In 2011 college enrollment in the US peaked at 42%.

In 2021 college enrollment stood at 15.4 million undergraduate college students.

In 2022 college enrollment stood at 39%.

https://www.bestcolleges.com/research/college-enrollment-decline/#:~:text=on%20college%20students-,College%20Enrollment%20Rate%20Over%20Time,compared%20to%20the%20previous%20decade.

 

2023 College Graduate Average Pay by State

State                   Annual      Monthly     Weekly   Hourly

Washington        $55,960     $4,663    $1,076     $26.90

New York           $52,293     $4,357    $1,005     $25.14

Idaho                 $50,941      $4,245      $979     $24.49

California           $49,859      $4,154      $958     $23.97

N Hampshire     $48,562      $4,046      $933     $23.35

Vermont             $47,843     $3,986      $920     $23.00

Maine                $47,044      $3,920      $904     $22.62

Massachusetts  $46,883      $3,906      $901     $22.54

Hawaii               $46,788      $3,899      $899     $22.49

Nevada             $46,530      $3,877      $894     $22.37

Tennessee       $45,999      $3,833       $884    $22.12

Arizona             $45,903      $3,825      $882     $22.07

Wyoming          $45,721      $3,810      $879     $21.98

Texas               $45,390      $3,782      $872     $21.82

New Jersey      $45,238      $3,769      $869     $21.75

Connecticut      $44,829      $3,735     $862      $21.55

Indiana             $44,322      $3,693     $852      $21.31

Alaska              $44,313      $3,692     $852      $21.30

Rhode Island   $44,247      $3,687     $850      $21.27

Oregon            $44,174      $3,681     $849      $21.24

Minnesota        $44,141     $3,678     $848      $21.22

West Virginia   $44,068     $3,672     $847      $21.19

Montana          $43,838     $3,653     $843      $21.08

North Dakota   $43,210     $3,600     $830      $20.77

Maryland         $43,187     $3,598     $830      $20.76

Pennsylvania  $43,020     $3,585     $827      $20.68

Virginia           $42,097     $3,508     $809      $20.24

Wisconsin      $41,912     $3,492      $806     $20.15

Ohio               $41,657     $3,471     $801      $20.03

S Dakota        $41,437     $3,453     $796     $19.92

Iowa               $41,049     $3,420     $789     $19.74

Colorado        $40,933     $3,411     $787     $19.68

Utah              $40,907      $3,408     $786     $19.67

Kentucky       $40,713     $3,392     $782     $19.57

Delaware       $40,706     $3,392     $782     $19.57

Nebraska      $40,638      $3,386    $781     $19.54

S Carolina     $40,071     $3,339     $770     $19.27

Alabama       $39,985      $3,332    $768     $19.22

N Mexico      $39,703      $3,308    $763     $19.09

Kansas         $39,199     $3,266     $753     $18.85

Oklahoma     $38,830    $3,235     $746     $18.67

Arkansas      $38,746     $3,228    $745     $18.63

Mississippi    $38,453    $3,204     $739     $18.49

Illinois           $38,205    $3,183     $734     $18.37

Michigan       $38,173    $3,181     $734     $18.35

Missouri        $37,795    $3,149     $726     $18.17

Florida          $37,661    $3,138     $724     $18.11

Georgia        $36,786    $3,065     $707     $17.69

Louisiana     $35,340     $2,945    $679     $16.99

N Carolina    $33,577    $2,798    $645     $16.14

https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/What-Is-the-Average-Graduate-Salary-by-State

 

From 1990 to 2002 average salaries for college grads bounced between $45,000 and $55,000.

In 2020 average salaries for college grads peaked at $56526. In 2023 average salaries for college grads dropped to 56156.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/642041/average-wages-of-us-college-graduates/ 

Comments

Engineering jobs move up and down based on design cycles. In the 1960s engineers were working on the space program and programmable logic controllers. In the 1980s, the PC was being developed and Telecom was moving from analog to digital. In the 1990s, the cell phone was being designed to replace land-lines and it including a camera feature. Also in the 1990s, companies were moving manufacturing to other countries. Flat screen TV design was taken by Asia. Companies were loosing their patent rights as foreign engineers were taking over sustaining design driven by component obsolescence. The army of engineers who were doing design work in the 1960s and 1980s are now retired and the US will struggle to find engineers now 40 years later in 2024.

Now in 2024, engineers are working with AI and robotics and US companies need engineers. Software Developers are in high demand. The US electric power grid is now in need of upgrading. The Wind and Solar craze is over.  EVs are not selling in the US because of price and performance issues. US companies are looking to quietly leave China to transfer their manufacturing to other low wage and low regulation Asian and Asia Pacific countries.

US companies moved overseas to keep regulation and labor costs low. Companies will need to invest in automation to improve quality and ensure productivity in order to re-shore manufacturing back to the US.

US companies are driven by quarterly profit reports to boost their stock prices and will only respond to cost reduction opportunities. US companies are myopic and not thinking long term enough to re-shore to the US unless they are forced to by tariffs. US corporate taxes need to be lowered and regulations need to be compressed to reduce costs.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader