INSIDE HIGHER ED. JAN 10, 2013. Postsecondary enrollments will grow by 15 percent between 2010 and 2021, far less than the 46 percent increase that occurred between 1996 and 2010, the U.S. Education Department’s National Center for Education Statistics said in an annual report released Wednesday. The report, “Projections of Education Statistics Through 2021,” provides a slew of data that anticipate how key K-12 and higher education indicators (enrollments, degrees conferred, etc.) will change over the next decade. By comparison, last year’s report projected a 13 percent increase in college enrollments between 2009 and 2020; whether the uptick is a sign that the “completion agenda” is having an effect will be a subject for debate.
This year’s report also projects a 21 percent increase in the number of associate degrees awarded by 2021-22, a 21 percent increase in the number of bachelor’s degrees, a 34 percent rise in the number of master’s degrees, and a 24 percent upturn in the number of doctoral degrees. In all cases those numbers are roughly half the number awarded in the 1996-97 to 2009-2010 period.
