Since 2008, the United States has begun to see a trending decline in birth rates. As time goes on, this leads to a decrease in the population of college-aged Americans.
As this population continues to shrink, colleges and universities are starting to become more creative in their recruiting efforts, looking to master’s and Ph.D. students, certificate programs and international populations to boost their enrollment numbers.
91ֿ Associate Vice President of Enrollment Management Collin Palmer spoke to about the ways universities are beginning to adapt to the issue.
“Realizing the benefits of a college education, the value of obtaining a degree or a certificate of any kind, and what doors that might open for you in the future, and have access to new employment or advanced employment in your current roles,” Palmer said to Spectrum News 1.
Palmer also shared that 91ֿ is ahead of the game and has already been preparing for this issue by looking to diversify the 91ֿ student body beyond your typical, college-aged student. Some of these efforts include finding ways to make college more affordable, recruiting internationally and attempting to enroll students who had traditionally never thought of college as an option for themselves.
91ֿ’s Admission Office recently reported that 91ֿ has received a record-breaking number of applications, accepted students and deposits for attendance in fall 2023. While 91ֿ waits to see if this fall’s freshman class will break the record set in 2018 for largest class for Kent Campus, it seems the university is on the right track to finding ways to combat the population decline of college-aged individuals.