By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
GREAT BEND — Colleges and universities across the country are witnessing a decline in
enrollment numbers.
At Barton Community College the total enrollment, across all the college’s
sites and platforms, was 16,049 in 2016. In 2021, enrollment was 11,402, a decrease of 29%.
A large percentage of the drop in enrollment stems from the amount of males not
attending college anymore. Barton Director of Institutional Research Todd
Mobray said at Barton, the male enrollment is greatly impacted by the campus at
Fort Riley.
"We've had a drop in enrollment at Fort Riley," Mobray said. "Of course,
they don't just give out information freely on deployments. Also,
people go out and get jobs instead of going to college. As wages have
increased, they have increased more in the physical labor areas. They
opt to go to work instead of college."
In 2016, there were 10,028 males enrolled across Barton. That number
fell more than 44% in 2021 with 5,571 males enrolled. Barton President Dr. Carl
Heilman said the decrease in male enrollment is a nationwide issue.
"A
lot of it has to do with people questioning the value of education,"
said Heilman. "Is it something that will increase wages or create more
loan debt? It's occurring primarily in the male population."
Female enrollment at Barton has stayed relatively flat during the same time
period.