College Enrollment is Down for Fifth Straight Year—Will The Decline Impact Non-Tenured Faculty?

by P.D. Lesko According to the Hechinger Report, “college and university enrollment fell during the semester just coming to an end, marking a fifth straight year of decline.” Some academic pundits and higher education reporters are reporting that the declines could impact the finances of higher education institutions. However, the overall long-term higher education enrollment gains made over the past twenty years mean the short-term declines, while troubling, are still modest. In addition, while the declines impact tuition revenue, exponential increases in tuition costs have far out-stripped loses associated with declining enrollments. Nonetheless, adjunct faculty would do well to pay attention to the […]