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Both the absolute number and the percentage of young adults enrolled in colleges are at their highest level ever, according to the report based on Census Bureau data.
The spike "has taken place entirely at two-year colleges," Pew said.
Enrollment in two-year community colleges, which generally confer an associate's degree, rose by 300,000 from October 2007 to the same month last year.
Just under 12 percent of all 18- to 24-year-olds -- 3.4 million people -- were enrolled in community college last year, compared with 3.1 million young adults -- 10.9 percent of the age group -- the previous year.
"Community college enrollments have long been considered somewhat countercyclical... they tend to rise as the economy worsens," the report said.
"One reason is that community colleges are less expensive than four-year institutions -- they average 6,750 dollars per year for full-time students, compared with 9,800 dollars for four-year public colleges and 21,240 dollars for four-year private colleges," it said.
Enrollments at four-year colleges were flat from 2007 to 2008.
"This new peak in college enrollment has come in the midst of a recession that has driven the national unemployment rate to its highest level in more than a quarter of a century and has had an especially harsh impact on young adults," Pew researchers noted.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 46.1 percent of 16- to 24-year-olds were employed in September 2009 -- less than at any time since the government began collecting such data in 1948.
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The spike "has taken place entirely at two-year colleges," Pew said.
Enrollment in two-year community colleges, which generally confer an associate's degree, rose by 300,000 from October 2007 to the same month last year.
Just under 12 percent of all 18- to 24-year-olds -- 3.4 million people -- were enrolled in community college last year, compared with 3.1 million young adults -- 10.9 percent of the age group -- the previous year.
"Community college enrollments have long been considered somewhat countercyclical... they tend to rise as the economy worsens," the report said.
"One reason is that community colleges are less expensive than four-year institutions -- they average 6,750 dollars per year for full-time students, compared with 9,800 dollars for four-year public colleges and 21,240 dollars for four-year private colleges," it said.
Enrollments at four-year colleges were flat from 2007 to 2008.
"This new peak in college enrollment has come in the midst of a recession that has driven the national unemployment rate to its highest level in more than a quarter of a century and has had an especially harsh impact on young adults," Pew researchers noted.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 46.1 percent of 16- to 24-year-olds were employed in September 2009 -- less than at any time since the government began collecting such data in 1948.
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