With the school year in full swing, some of you may have — or be — a student looking at higher education. How do you know that college or university has your students’ best interest in mind?

Institutions of higher education are fighting tooth and nail to keep students enrolled. In fact, according to Education Data, since 2010, enrollment has declined 11.61%.

Education data does have a slight increase in enrollment numbers for 2024 — roughly half a percent. It’s a trend we’ve seen with SUNY schools. Chancellor John King said they were up 1% overall across the system. SUNY Delhi posted this year that it welcomed the largest cohort of new students — 1,400, to be exact. The school attributes a hands-on approach to careers in in-demand industries.

Trocaire College President Dr. Bassam Deeb says that’s what higher education institutions have to do to stay alive. He’s been in the business for 37 years.

Changing technology, he says, has always been a factor. Now, some are taking a second look at credentials. Where those are needed, like health care, which Trocaire specializes in, they will always be mandated. But for some jobs, there’s the question of whether the job training is better.

Currently, Deeb says institutions are dealing with what’s known as the demographic cliff. Based on census data, by 2025, there will be a smaller graduating class.

“So that means when you have, you know, almost 4,000 institutions in the country at all levels, their ability to attract a higher percentage is challenged," Deeb said. "And so to that extent, that will lead to more competition. It would also lead to more consolidation. We will see more closures of institutions as a result of that because there's just not enough to feed the pipeline.”

Deeb says this could last about five years before the pyramid, as he describes it, returns to its wider base. He says more institutions will be getting into schools, connecting with kids as young as eighth grade to get a sense of the next generation’s needs and desires.

As for the future of education, he says prices will continue to go up. They have to pay for technology and staff. However, he predicts there will always be physical spaces for students to learn. He says there is nothing better than face-to-face learning and the experience kids get on campus.

When it comes to AI, Deeb says officials still aren’t sure what it means for higher education and its future.