The Nation : College Enrollments Rise

College enrollments went up this fall instead of down, the Department of Education reported. Colleges have been girding for several years for a sharp drop in enrollments because the number of traditional college-age students has declined steadily as children born in the post-World War II baby boom get older. The department’s Center for Statistics had forecast that enrollments this fall would dip by 83,000 from 12,247,000 last year. Instead, a federal survey of 600 campuses indicates an enrollment of 12,398,000 students. Many colleges have kept their numbers up by enrolling more part-time and older students.