Interesting chart, but am I missing something? This just shows the HS graduates within an area, not enrollment into college, right? I think the question is, are students choosing not to go to a four-year college any longer? These numbers here don't seem to tell us one way or another.
Correct. What you often hear from college administrators is that fewer kids are graduating from high school therefore there are fewer kids who can potentially enroll. My point was simply that this is not as dire a situation as they often make it out to be.
That said, admissions is a sales contest. Fewer potential enrollees simply means you need to do a better job of selling.