According to a CNBC analysis of data from Higher Ed Dive, since 2016 there are 91 U.S. private colleges that have either closed, merged with another school, or announced plans to close. This trend is affecting tens of thousands of college students across the USA.
Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBENl0GVxzA
CNBC quoted several sources that 95% of small colleges rely on tuition dollars and the number of registered students is declining.forcing many colleges to close or merge.
Higher ED Dive has several articles about declining college registrations.
8 big questions as colleges start fall 2022
https://www.highereddive.com/news/8-big-questions-as-colleges-start-fall-2022/631100/
College leaders are particularly focused on the K-12 to higher ed pipeline because of recent enrollment losses.
Higher ed institutions enrolled about 1 million fewer undergraduates last fall than they did two years prior, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center found. Enrollment slipped 3.1% from fall 2020 to fall 2021, and the news wasn’t much better in the spring, when undergraduate enrollment fell 4.7% year over year.
“It’s important to recognize there are hundreds of colleges out there struggling to make their classes, and it’s not going to get any easier,” said Angel Pérez, CEO of NACAC.
7 higher education trends to watch in 2022
https://www.highereddive.com/news/7-higher-education-trends-to-watch-in-2022/616542/
Efforts to reverse slumping enrollment - With grim enrollment numbers over the last two years, many colleges outside of competitive private institutions and big-name public schools are looking to fill seats. Drawing students back to college will challenge many institutions. The country’s economic wounds aren’t healed, and two-year schools and some four-year access institutions will see fewer students who can afford college.
7 higher education trends to watch in 2023
https://www.highereddive.com/news/7-higher-education-trends-to-watch-in-2023/639131/
More college consolidations on the horizon - No new federal aid appears to be coming down the pipeline. Some institutions had already turned to austerity measures, as the pool of traditional-age college students starts to run dry.
Enrollment woes Continue - Enrollment fell by 1.1% in fall 2022 from the prior year, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
What did I learn - Value for money is still important - most students pay 25,000 to 50,000 per year plus lose 25,000 to 40,000 per year in wages - so the payback required can be 200,000 to 360,000 - and many can not recover this education investment as the employers do not value the education and skills of the college grads.
