Colorado Springs-area high school grads delayed college enrollment, found new pathways amid COVID-19 pandemic

Jan. 28—As the world nears three years since COVID-19 shuttered schools for months, several Colorado Springs school districts are reporting similar, immediate trends in how the pandemic may have shifted their high school students' post-graduate plans.

Financial costs and campus life have emerged as significant indicators in where, or if, a student pursues post-secondary education, and many others are opting for skilled trades. In almost every circumstance, students are increasingly determined to get the best "bang for their buck," Harrison School District 2 spokesperson Christine O'Brien said.

"The idea of a four-year degree is changing," O'Brien said in an email to The Gazette. "Many students are figuring out their career path which might include a two-year specialty degree. Not everyone needs a four-year degree or the debt they might incur."

O'Brien noted two significant trends among D-2 students graduating in 2020 and 2021 versus those who graduated before the pandemic: Less students overall enrolled at post-secondary institutions, and of those who did, more opted for two-year colleges over four-year colleges. From 2012 to 2019, 56% of D-2 graduates pursuing college enrolled at a four-year institution, according to data provided by the district. From 2020 to 2021, 64% of graduates pursuing college enrolled in two-year programs instead.

Many students, facing a lack of clubs, organizations and socialization that comes with the college experience but with all the hefty tuition costs, chose to take online classes at a community college or delayed matriculation at a college temporarily until pandemic restrictions eased.

"College is a lot more than gaining credit for coursework," O'Brien said. "There's something about being able to participate in campus life."

For many Falcon School District 49 graduates, that temporary delay became permanent.

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According to D-49 spokesperson David Nancarrow, the pandemic didn't altogether close doors for those students, but instead exposed them to new opportunities and pathways for a successful career. Because of "dramatic shifts in economic and employment" spheres as a result of the pandemic, "many of them have options for work study or direct employment after high school that are more compelling than ever before," Nancarrow said.

In Colorado Springs, the trade, transportation and utilities sector is tied with professional and business services for the second highest-employing job sector, only led by education and health, according to a recent Colorado General Assembly report examining employment trends during the pandemic recovery. The report found that the state's regions most reliant on professional and business, as well as trade, services "have tended to lead the employment recovery."

Many trade sectors, including construction, are facing an aging workforce who will soon be retiring faster than replacements can be trained as well as a booming housing market that's driving demand. Colorado Springs school districts are hoping to respond in turn, emphasizing skilled trade, not just college, as a valuable postsecondary option. Exposure to a variety of skills early on will help students identify new passions — or even identify what they definitely do not want to do — before pursuing expensive degrees.

"More students see certification programs yielding rapid advancement and earning comparable to four-year degrees," Nancarrow said. "Our students continue to show strong interest in helping professions through military, ministry, health care and other service occupations."

Will high schoolers maintain the trend of pursuing a variety of postsecondary options and forgo university? Officials say it's too soon to know the full extent of the pandemic's role in enrollment numbers and attitudes toward college. Academy School District 20 schools also saw their graduates pause on two-year and four-year college pursuits, communications officer Allison Cortez said, but as the heavy lockdown and other COVID-19 requirements fall further in the rearview, that could change.

"Now that colleges and businesses no longer have the pandemic-related restrictions they once did," Cortez said, "we are hearing students are excited to return back to traditional learning."

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