The Future of Higher Education - 9

Part 2: Changes Within Academia
Since then, the number of people taking classes
across the sector has declined nearly every year,
especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Only
fall 2023 has seen an exception to this trend.
This matters to higher education for several
reasons. Since campuses depend heavily on
student fees to survive, as noted above, a
decrease in the number of learners strikes right
at the bottom line. As a result, this incentivizes
schools to compete even more aggressively with
each other, as well as to seek out new markets. It
may lead institutions to reduce or cut programs
which don't enroll many students. Beyond that,
the enrollment decline suggests a breakdown in
the " college for all " cultural agreement.
While the number of students taking classes
has declined, the nature of which people enroll
has been changing. First, the racial makeup of
students is changing. Earlier, we noted changing
American racial and ethnic demographics; those
changes have been increasingly appearing in
the student body, which is growing less white
than ever. Second, a proportion of students
are veterans, a logical result of the United
States fighting intercontinental wars since
September 11, 2001. Third, a growing number of
students have learning disabilities for reasons
only partially understood. Fourth, a growing
proportion are first-generation students. That
is, they come from families without parents
having had college or university experience.
Taken together, these four changes mean a
more diverse, complex, and interesting student
body. They also mean supporting such learners
is more expensive, as they require an additional
set of programs and faculty/staff professional
development.
These more interesting and smaller classes are
also changing what topics they study. Generally
speaking, students are shifting majors towards
Part 2: Changes Within Academia
Part 1: The Global Context
6
the sciences and away from the humanities.
The number of degrees awarded in STEM
(science, technology, engineering, math), the
full spectrum of allied health care (nursing,
surgery, pharmacy, dentistry, mental health,
hospital administration, etc.), and business have
been growing steadily or even dramatically.
In contrast, degrees for philosophy, religion,
English literature, history, foreign language,
and art history have been falling significantly.
This presents institutions with strategic choices:
how to encourage more students to study those
weakening topics? How best to support the
growing ones? Should a college or university
decrease support to departments where majors
are dwindling? More broadly, how will the
humanities survive if students vote with their
feet against them, and if campuses cut funding
to those units? Is a university still a university
or something lesser if its humanities shrink
dramatically?
The Future of Higher Education

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Future of Higher Education
