[TRANSCRIPT]

Melissa Yingst Huber

College campuses in the United States were known for up to 21 million students walking around, but as of Fall 2014, 812,069 fewer people have enrolled. The data shows that the schools that don’t have as much college enrollment are community colleges and for-profit universities. U.S. Under Secretary of Education Ted Mitchell stated that college enrollment is declining because Americans are going back to work after possible improvement in the economy. But is it really that simple?

Much of this decline comes from the price of tuition increasing, and many people in the country feel that America needs to do whatever it can to give students from low-income families and minorities better access to higher education.

Skylar Spencer, a high school senior, is the class president in a school that is located in one of the poorest neighborhoods in New York City and she says that she has struggled to find funds for college. After her mother lost her job, she’s been afraid that she won’t be able to go to college in the Fall.