What Is the Future of College — and Does It Have Room for Men? (Update)

Educators and economists tell us all the reasons college enrollment has been dropping, especially for men, and how to stop the bleeding. (Part 3 of our series from 2022, “Freakonomics Radio Goes Back to School.”)

• SOURCES:
  • Zachary Bleemer, assistant professor of economics at Princeton University and faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research.
  • D'Wayne Edwards, founder and President of Pensole Lewis College.
  • Catharine Hill, former president of Vassar College; trustee at Yale University; and managing director at Ithaka S+R.
  • Pano Kanelos, founding president of the University of Austin.
  • Amalia Miller, professor of economics at the University of Virginia.
  • Donald Ruff, president and C.E.O. of the Eagle Academy Foundation.
  • Morton Schapiro, professor of economics and former president of Northwestern University.
  • Ruth Simmons, former president of Smith College, Brown University, and Prairie View A&M University.
  • Miguel Urquiola, professor of economics at Columbia University.

• RESOURCES:
  • "What Gay Men’s Stunning Success Might Teach Us About the Academic Gender Gap," by Joel Mittleman (The Washington Post, 2022).
  • "We Can't Wait for Universities to Fix Themselves. So We're Starting a New One," by Pano Kanelos (Common Sense, 2021).
  • "Academic Freedom in Crisis: Punishment, Political Discrimination, and Self-Censorship," by Eric Kaufmann (Center for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology, 2021).
  • “A Generation of American Men Give Up on College: ‘I Just Feel Lost’,” by Douglas Belkin (The Wall Street Journal, 2021).
  • "Community Colleges and Upward Mobility," by Jack Mountjoy (NBER Working Paper, 2021).
  • "Elite Schools and Opting In: Effects of College Selectivity on Career and Family Outcomes," by Suqin Ge, Elliott Isaac, and Amalia Miller (NBER Working Paper, 2019).
  • "Leaving Boys Behind: Gender Disparities in High Academic Achievement," by Nicole M. Fortin, Philip Oreopoulos, and Shelley Phipps (NBER Working Paper, 2013).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Freakonomics Radio Goes Back to School," series by Freakonomics Radio (2024).
  • “'If We’re All in It for Ourselves, Who Are We?'” by Freakonomics Radio (2024).