According to the article women still believe the trade-off to be worth paying for and attending college since their application numbers are still holding steady.
Are most of them making a huge mistake? I guess it depends heavily in the credential(s), but I think there has to be a deeper reason for falling and unbalanced undergraduate enrollment amongst men.
All Ponzi schemes collapse, the growth colleges experienced in the past led them to be overly optimistic and make promises they can no longer meet. The falling debris from the collapse is already happening, as the wave of unbreakable and unpayable student debt imprisons a generation.
Anecdotal but I've noticed that for a lot of women, achieving the degree seems to be the end goal and status symbol, while for men the degree is just a path to better financial outcomes. If the calculation for the latter has changed to where degree is no longer worth it compared to alternatives, that could explain it.