Michigan Youth Political Alliance

As the Dow Jones finished off today down 128 points at 8,451.19 and down 18.2% for the week–the largest percentage drop in the index’s 112-year history–our economy feels like it’s almost at a standstill. And for most Americans, the prospect of finding a job in the near future looks very bleak. Plenty even feel that the lagging economy might hurt their chance for employment in the long-term as well, exiting the job market and entering universities to earn another degree. Students already enrolled are planning ahead to re-enroll for another degree for the same reasons. Thus, student enrollment rates have steadily increased at colleges and universities around the nation, and from the look of economic trends, will continue to escalate.

States like Washington and Missouri reflect the nationwide enrollment growth at community colleges. 11.5 million were enrolled in community colleges last year, and according to the American Association of Community Colleges, the number rose during the summer and is likely to rise again during the fall. Charles Earl, executive director of the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, noted that during times of economic stress, enrollment rates at colleges historically increase.

For many, the economic crisis is a valuable moment to learn for business students and anyone taking economics-related courses. Professors are visibly taking advantage of the educational opportunity, pulling up financial headlines at the beginning of class and discussing the recent stories with students. For a subject that’s usually painted in the abstract, this shows how powerful the crisis has grown. It has become so endemic that we, as Americans, are nearly all personally affected in one way our another, recognizing friends and family who have been dragged beneath the undertow of the current of the crisis.

Included in the bailout package is now a provision for student loan assets in financial institutions to be bought off by the federal government. However, similarly to the justified skepticism of the impacts of the rest of the bailout package’s provisions on mortgages and credit, students should not depend on the federal government to pay for college. Unfortunately, private loans are growing more and more scarce, so students need to look to other options.

Conservation is probably key. Students are doing a great job of adapting to the circumstances by taking fewer trips home, eating out less, and shopping at used clothing stores instead of brand-name fashion boutiques, just to name a few methods. Campuses are great places to live at an affordable cost because of the centralized resources–where stores, libraries, entertainment and so forth are all just a few blocks down–so students are in a wonderful position to start off with.

However, economic times do not seem to be lightening up anytime in the near future, so students are going to have to dig in for more to come. But they’ll be the most ready for economic hardship out of anyone. School is, no doubt, one of the best places to be during times like these.