Next Year: 20% More Kids

"When he's ready for college, will college be ready for him?" goes a familiar refrain. Last week the U.S. Office of Education announced that U.S. college enrollment has broken all records for the twelfth straight year: 2,140 colleges and universities now enroll 4,529,000 degree-seeking students, up 7.7% over last year and more than double the total in 1951. And the big crush has barely begun.

Next year the number of 18-year-olds in the U.S. will jump by about 20% --progeny of G.I.s demobbed in 1946. By 1970 this population bulge may well result in 7,000,000 collegians. After that will come a striking multiplier effect. Roughly 40% of Americans aged 18 to 21 are now pursuing higher education as against 25% in 1951. Since today's collegians will aim to send their children to college, the 1980 enrollment may hit 9,000,000.

The heat is on public universities. Because most private campuses refuse to expand much, public campuses now enroll 64% of all collegians, compared with 50% a decade ago. The big schools keep getting bigger--and now include some giants. At the University of Cincinnati, Garland G. Parker, veteran registrar, last week totted up grand-total enrollments (full and part-time) at the country's biggest universities. The top dozen:

City University of New York 101,247

University of California 101,064

State University of New York 72,918

University of Minnesota 49,228

New York University (private) 41,700

University of Wisconsin 38,883

University of Illinois 35,889

Indiana University 34,032

Ohio State University 33,284

Michigan State University 31,538

University of Texas 30,927

University of Michigan 30,799

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