That degree you paid for through the 1-800 number on TV is becoming less popular these days.

Remember when the University of Phoenix was still thought of as a joke? Usually there was some fair-haired, pretty young woman lounging in bed, wearing pajamas, tooling about on her laptop, telling us how she could get her degree through casual online classes. Just call today!!

Well, it seems for-profit colleges and universities (University of Phoenix, DeVry University, Vinny Boombatz's School of Higher Learning--all the usual suspects) are still jokes, and now they're sucking wind. According to the Wall Street Journal, new-student enrollment is down across the board, in some cases down by 45%.

If it wasn't sad enough that you tried to pay for a degree through a 1-800 number, it's even more pathetic when your school might tank before there's even a school reunion. (A reunion most likely held online, in a chat room, although maybe a message board if the budget is extra tight.)