Demographics Aren’t What’s Ailing Colleges

The ‘enrollment cliff’ is mostly an excuse not to change. Turn any article into a podcast. Upgrade now to start listening. Members can share articles with friends & family to bypass the paywall. In 2010, St. Cloud State University, located an hour northwest of Minneapolis, enrolled 18,000 students. By 2024, it enrolled 10,000. It lost $18 million in 2023 and cut more than 40 degree programs the following year; it had already dropped football in 2019. Its interim president told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that the school had watched enrollment fall for a decade without reducing its staffing. Dan Currell was deputy undersecretary and senior adviser in the U.S. Department of Education from 2018 to 2021. He is a trustee of Gustavus Adolphus College. More We Think You’d Like