C&RL News April 2021 200 Gary Pattillo is reference librarian at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, e-mail: pattillo@email.unc.edu College student enrollment “Fall enrollment in degree-granting postsecondary institutions was 3 percent higher in 2018 (19.6 million) than in 2008 (19.1 million). However, enrollment decreased by 7 percent between 2010 (21.0 million) and 2018. From fall 1976 to fall 2018, the percentage of Hispanic students rose from 4 to 20 percent of all U.S. residents enrolled in degree- granting postsecondary institutions, the percentage of Black students rose from 10 to 13 percent, and the percentage of Asian/Pacific Islander students rose from 2 to 7 percent. During the same period, the percentage of White students fell from 84 to 55 percent.” Cristobal De Brey, Thomas D. Snyder, Anlan Zhang, and Sally A. Dillow, Digest of Education Statistics, 2019 (NCES 2021-009), National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, D.C., https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2021009 (retrieved February 28, 2021). College student retention “U.S. adults who have some college education but no degree and are not currently en- rolled attribute their stopping classes to cost (25 percent), emotional stress (18 percent), and balancing family responsibilities (13 percent) as their top reasons for not completing their degree.” Jonathan Rothwell and Megan Brenan, “Students Continue to Weigh College Costs vs. Career Goals,” Gallup, Inc., Febru- ary 1, 2021, https://news.gallup.com/opinion/gallup/329120/students-continue-weigh-college-costs-career-goals.aspx (retrieved February 28, 2021). Social media users At the start of 2021, there were 4.20 billion active social media users worldwide. That equates to nearly 54 percent of the total global population. “The typical user has an ac- count on more than 8 different social media platforms, and spends an average of close to 2½ hours using social media each day.” “Social Media Users,” DataReportal–Global Digital Insights, January 2021, https://datareportal.com/social-media-users (retrieved March 1, 2021). In-person classes and COVID-19 “Cases of COVID-19 increased 56 percent in U.S. counties with large colleges that hosted classes in person early this fall, according to new analyses from the CDC, published Jan. 8. By contrast, counties with large colleges that held classes remotely saw a nearly 18 percent drop in cases.” Rebecca Koenig, “Opening Campuses During Pandemic Sent Virus Cases Soaring in Communities, CDC Reports,” EdSurge News, January 8, 2021, https://www.edsurge.com/news/2021-01-08-opening-campuses-during-pandemic-sent-virus-cases- soaring-in-communities-cdc-reports (retrieved March 1, 2021). Online harassment “Roughly four-in-ten Americans have experienced online harassment, with half of this group citing politics as the reason they think they were targeted. Growing shares face more severe online abuse such as sexual harassment or stalking.” Emily Vogels, “The State of Online Harassment,” Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech (blog), January 13, 2021, https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2021/01/13/the-state-of-online-harassment (retrieved March 1, 2021). mailto:pattillo%40email.unc.edu?subject=Gary%20Pattillo https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2021009 https://news.gallup.com/opinion/gallup/329120/students-continue-weigh-college-costs-career-goals.aspx https://datareportal.com/social-media-users https://www.edsurge.com/news/2021-01-08-opening-campuses-during-pandemic-sent-virus-cases-soaring-in-communities-cdc-reports https://www.edsurge.com/news/2021-01-08-opening-campuses-during-pandemic-sent-virus-cases-soaring-in-communities-cdc-reports https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2021/01/13/the-state-of-online-harassment