Demographic projections of high school graduates through 2022

According to the latest figures from WICHE, this year’s graduating high school class will be the peak, in terms of the number of graduates nationwide, for some time to come. We’ve been keeping a close eye on these projections, given the case that “geography is destiny” for most private colleges (see our report “Ten Observations & Trends” ). You’ll want to make sure you bookmark the WICHE site, which offers state-by-state estimates of college enrollment for the coming years:

Knocking at the College Door, March 2008
http://www.wiche.edu/policy/knocking/1992-2022/

Today’s reporting by Inside Higher Ed captured the reaction of Travis Reindl, program director for Jobs for the Future, who noted that colleges and universities that draw most of their students from states facing a declining high school graduate population are “going to have to reach out to adult learners much more than they have.” This is a point we’ll echo in our soon-to-be-published issue of The Lawlor Review, in a feature story that examines the marketplace for adult education.