Community colleges, associate’s degrees and certificates: Young Americans are interested in everything but a bachelor’s

New enrollments at American colleges and universities hit their highest level in a decade last fall, but a closer look at the type of institution high schoolers are opting for says a lot about what students’ priorities are nowadays.

Over 16 million students enrolled in an undergraduate degree, a 1.2% increase from the year before, according to a survey released Thursday by the National Student Clearinghouse, an education data provider.

But that growth came down almost entirely...