The enrollment cliff or demographic cliff of 2025 will effect the entering freshman classes at undergraduate institutions nationwide. In 2007 we had an economic downturn that resulted in low birth rates. It is predicted that this low birth rate combined with a trend away from college over trade schools will lead to a 15-20% smaller incoming freshman class in 2025.

Generation Z is smaller than their millennial predecessors and they are different. Many of the Gen Z cohorts are deciding against the debt that may come with college and then a law degree in search of careers that don’t require a degree. In kind, some employers are re-thinking job descriptions and whether every job requires a degree to be successful and whether an apprenticeship may be more useful than a bachelor’s degree. Higher education will continue to promote that a four-year degree is still your best bet for social mobility, but some are asking themselves if this is true for everyone.