Two Demographic Cliffs? How to Diversify Student Audiences and Prepare for the Future

Just as the long-awaited "demographic cliff" is on the horizon (projected to begin in Fall 2025), the Census Bureau has released new projections—the first to be based on the 2020 rather than 2010 census—and they further complicate planning for colleges and universities.

 

These new data indicate that two years after the first "cliff" ends (in 2030), a second will begin. By the time it is over in 2039, healthy institutions will have had to master how to maintain enrollment after facing a cumulative loss of more than 650,000 18-year-olds—a loss that start at the undergraduate level and then ripple through graduate study a few years later.

 

If you missed this, don't be surprised. These new data were released the same week as the FAFSA debacle really took hold (in February) and therefore wasn't even a "front-page" item.

 

In this webinar we first review the new data, compare it with the data we've all been working with for the last few years, and then have a wide-ranging discussion with two long-time institutional enrollment management leaders who have deep experience in thinking strategically about how to maintain institutional health.
 

In our discussion we explore how to:

 

1. Select and launch new programs that will effectively attract new student audiences.
2. Fine tune strategies and practices that can expand enrollment among alternative audiences you already serve.
3. Advance current practices and needed changes that can maximize enrollment among your traditional undergraduate audience.