If there was an era we might call “peak higher education,” it was right after the Great Recession. Unemployment spiked, especially among younger people. Those who couldn’t find work, or who wanted to advance their careers at a time when promotions were scarce, turned to higher education for a leg up. Millions took the opportunity to attend college or go back to complete their degrees rather than take their chances in a weak labor market.
As the economy cratered, Congress obliged the swelling demand for higher education with more funding. Higher student loan limits, heftier Pell Grants, and the new American Opportunity Tax Credit all fueled the college craze. Leaders offered moral encouragement as well. In 2009, President Barack Obama set a goal of making the United States the most-educated nation in the world. And who can forget Michelle Obama’s infamous “you should go to college” rap video?
College enrollment duly spiked. The number of undergraduates on college campuses peaked at 18 million in fall 2010. Open-admissions colleges that specialize in enrolling marginal students ramped up. The University of Phoenix—the nation’s most famous online mega-college—enrolled a third of a million students in the fall of 2010.
The federal government’s proximate goal of increasing college enrollment was a smashing success. But in retrospect, the era of peak higher ed looks like a mixed bag. Advocates celebrated more students going to college and bettering themselves. But many students left school with a bitter taste in their mouths.
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