Interesting article from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, showing significant declining enrollment in (all but La Roche and Chatham) Pittsburgh-region small colleges.
Few thoughts.
First, undergraduates are the bread-and-butter of most small colleges. If one just focused on those enrollments, for many of these small colleges the picture is even worse.
Second, considering my own world more, for those colleges willing to work that niche of more conservative and religious parents and potential students, the situation need not be dire, even in cold, cloudy regions with less-than-ideal weather or local night life. This is apparent using user-friendly sites like the College Tuition Compare website (which compares a lot more than tuition). Places like Hillsdale College (undergraduates up from 1,490 in 2014-15 -- furthest back available on the site I used went -- to 1,573 in 2022-23 -- despite very low acceptance rates), Cedarville University (undergraduates up steeply from 3,238 in 2013-14 to 4,533 in 2022-23), and Franciscan University of Steubenville (undergraduates up steeply from 2,112 in 2013-14 to 2,785 in 2022-23) are proof of that.
Being conservative and more religious does not guarantee sustained or improved enrollment, not at all. Not being so doesn't guarantee the opposite. But in this era where increasingly, students who are both more religious and more conservatives are more concerned than ever about finding compatible college slots in places known for serious education, being conservative and religious can be a pretty good niche if a college does the other things with excellence as well.
Third, starting with the most recent enrollment high point and comparing the most recent enrollments to that often gives us a worse picture than what we see just from the negative percentages they report. You can see this in their trend charts, for example, Point Park.
#geneva #gcc #franciscan #hillsdale #cedarville
https://lnkd.in/eG_B2b_B
Glad to help
2moBest University to gain hands on experiences as well as learn from professors that are experts as well as still work in the field as their day job.