The labor shortage is pushing American colleges into crisis, with the plunge in enrollment the worst ever recorded

Mia Woodard looks out of a window at her grandmother's home on Feb. 1, 2023 in Jackson, Tenn. Woodard is among hundreds of thousands of Americans who came of age during the pandemic but didn't go to college. She hoped to be the first in her family to get a college degree, but in her senior year, she lost access to counselors and teachers who usually help students navigate college applications.