Undersized education

[Ramona Brie]

I have a town of 70,000 people. Jarsson, as it is known, has three high schools: Union (for the old part of town), East (in the newer southeast part of the town), and River Ridge (in a kinda new northern district).

Union High had 92 students, East had 468, and River Ridge had 158. That's 718 high school students for a town of 70,000. By comparison, the real life town of Coolidge, Arizona, has a population of 9570 and 844 students in its high school. I feel like high school enrollment is way underscaled for some reason or another, and I fear the same for education systems. Any explanation?

[threestooges]

School populations change over time as sims in the game age. When first starting a tile, there is a set spread of age groups, and I don't think many high school age ones. I forget where I read it, but as I recall most new residents come already at a working age, and so wouldn't need school. First to fill up would be elementary schools, and then high schools as the kids age. If your city is still young (under 50 game years) give it time and it'll likely increase.

Alternatively, in the real world, student densities vary by location. Some areas are known more for being cities with lots of children, and others tend to be communities where older people tend to gather. So that may be another explanation or part of the explanation.

[Ramona Brie]

See, I think it's a simulator problem that lets cities' populations age too much. It's not realistic for Phoenix...yes, there's a boom, but still...

[Opkl]

See, I think it's a simulator problem that lets cities' populations age too much. It's not realistic for Phoenix...yes, there's a boom, but still...

I agree.  In my city that I have been playing for some time now (over 150 game years),  there are still older sims in 85-90% of the tile.  I don't mean to be the Grim Reaper, but when do these sims die off and new ones appear??