After a decade of decline in the number of students enrolling for US college degrees, fees are falling in real terms.

The current academic year is the third in a row where the cost of studying at a private US college has fallen, a trend not seen since the early 1970s.

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There are many possible reasons why demand for a college education may be past its peak, from a strong labour market, to the rise of alternative learning providers and the gradual loss of a degree’s ‘signalling function’ now that 42% of workers aged 25 to 34 hold a bachelors degree or higher.

Cost-cutting strategies are likely to be welcomed by prospective students: a 2022 Global Student Survey found that 78 per cent of US students would prefer more online learning, and 74 per cent would prefer shorter degrees, if it meant lower tuition fees.

Ella Hollowood

Our other charts of the week . . . 

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The British public holds a broadly negative view of the Conservative party. Some 69 per cent say they will promise anything to win votes, compared with 58 per cent for Labour. Britons are also more likely to say the Conservatives are divided, out of date and extreme.

Research by Ipsos found that only 11 per cent say the Conservatives keep their promises. The share is also low for Labour at 21 per cent.

Labour is ahead of the Conservatives on being concerned about people in need and being fit to govern, though Rishi Sunak’s party has improved by 8 percentage points on this measure since October.

Federica Cocco

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The state held less than a 10 per cent stake in only 43 per cent of China’s top 100 listed companies at the end of 2022, down from the peak of 55 per cent in mid-2021.

A regulatory crackdown in the summer of 2021 wiped hundreds of billions of dollars from private sector market capitalisations; however, it is as yet unclear if this decline signals the end of private-sector expansion in China.

The private sector’s share remains significantly above the level it was a decade ago. At the end of 2010 companies with less than 10 per cent state ownership made up less than 8 per cent of the market capitalisation of China’s top 100 listed firms.

Amy Borrett

Column chart of Construction spending relating to manufacturing ($bn) showing A boom in US manufacturing

US construction spending related to manufacturing reached $140.6bn in the year ending February 2023, the highest annual total on record, in large part thanks to recent legislation signalling a new commitment to industrial policy: the Chips Act, the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Bill.

This is more than was spent to build schools, healthcare centres or office buildings.

Jobs in manufacturing are also growing with nearly 800,000 jobs added in the sector over the past two years bringing the total number to 13mn.

There are concerns that labour shortages and other bottlenecks could short-circuit the boom, with the National Association of Manufacturers saying the industry needs a further 800,000 workers.

Federica Cocco

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The percentage of Brits saying they are either ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ optimistic about the influence the internet is having on society has dropped by 9 percentage points in under four years.

There was an even split between those who were optimistic and those who were pessimistic in January 2020, at 32 per cent. Since then, as the average amount of time spent on the internet reached new highs, optimism has declined almost every time the question has been asked. It is now 24 per cent.

Women have consistently been less optimistic than men, according to the survey conducted by YouGov, averaging 7 percentage points less optimistic than men since the survey began in July 2019, though the gap has now closed to 5 percentage points.

Evidence suggesting the internet, smartphones and social media have a negative psychological impact on children has been mounting and fears around fake news, big tech, and data privacy may all be factors in the public’s growing pessimism.

Paul Kirkup


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