It’s that time of year when high school seniors start setting their sights on applying for a college or university, but a recent report shows less students will be applying this year.

David Townsend, a counselor at the Roy C. Ketchum High School for more than two decades, says he's seen a steady decline of students applying to college each year for a variety of reasons.

“Over the past two years, we have seen a slight decline. It's been about a two to three percent decline in students attending college,” he said.

“I believe that a lot of that has to do with the pandemic and financial reasons and just fear, fear of online learning and, you know, being away from home,” says Townsend.

According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, enrollment at U.S. colleges and universities is on track to fall by another nearly 500,000 undergraduate students this fall. The 3.2% decline in undergraduate enrollment follows a similar drop off in 2020.

“Over recent years, there's, I think, there's been a slow increase moving towards trade schools, or students, you know, going into the world of work, finding options for apprenticeships, to get into some different programs,” says Townsend.

He and other counselors in the Wappingers Central School District work hard to encourage their students to plan ahead. The school hosted a virtual fair with over 100 colleges in attendance.

Townsend said while he knows college is not for everyone, he encourages students to really think about what they want to do and the best way to get there.

“Set out a plan for yourself and then, you know, and then map it out and it doesn't have to be the traditional plan. There's different avenues and options for everybody," he said.

He added students have a couple of years in college before they have to decide on a major.

While most students in college change their majors three to four times before they decide, Townsend said the best thing is to start college courses right after high school.

He says he has seen an increase in students taking a gap year, but recommends against doing this because he says studies shows very often students tend not go back to school.