A slew of new reporting suggests a non-ideal image of American higher education in the year 2026. Hampshire College, the liberal arts institution in Massachusetts, recently announced its future closure due to financial problems. And it isn’t the only one. A number of colleges and universities across the country have shut their doors over the past few years, with others reporting real strain and lowering enrollment. Josh Moody writes in Inside Higher Education,

Founded in 1965 and known for its progressive values and student-driven curriculum, Hampshire is the latest in a string of small colleges to announce closures this year, including Labouré College of Healthcare (also in Massachusetts) and Lourdes University. According to new data from Huron Consulting, nearly a quarter of the country’s 1,700 private, nonprofit four-year institutions may be forced to close or merge over the next decade. –Hampshire College Announces Closure

According to some sound analysis by Michael B. Horn, two present realities threaten the long-term security of many schools: the declining birth rate and the unpromising “cash flow.” Basically, Americans stopped having as many babies after the Great Recession of 2007-2008 hit the world, and we are now seeing the tangible impact of the drop-off. Horn writes,

The number of traditional college-age students in the United States is projected to decline for at least the next two decades as the smaller birth cohorts following the Great Recession move through the education pipeline. For an industry built around steady enrollment growth, that demographic shift alone guarantees increasing financial pressure.

But demographics alone won’t determine which institutions survive. The more immediate threat is simpler: cash. –Your Local College Is Running Out of Cash

If the demographic problem fails to get any better in the coming years, then it seems clear that higher education will continue to see these kinds of financial challenges. If there aren’t as many customers, then the business suffers.

The smaller colleges aren’t the only ones that are struggling. Big research universities are showing some signs of stress, too. The University of Oregon is just one such institution that reflects the lowering childbirth rate that ramped up following the Great Recession some twenty years ago.

This is obviously a big problem facing academic institutions today, not to mention the AI issue infecting so many schools from within. It’s only getting easier for students to cut corners and use programs like ChatGPT to cheat their way through classes. If we can’t figure out how to instill basic writing and critical thinking skills among the students who do come to college, they will be leaving their institutions without much to show for it. We have to figure out how to get students to come to college and figure out ways to help them learn when they get there.

All that said, it would be grim indeed to leave this subject on a sour note. Even though these challenges are here, they aren’t insurmountable. Professors can still take pride in their work as they keep trying to impart knowledge and wisdom to the upcoming generation. Even if just one student listens and learns something valuable, it was time well spent. We can encourage high school students to read books, do complex math, and escape the snare of digital addiction, and families can dare to defy the nihilists and start having a lot more kids. What else can we do?