Enrollment declines, campus closings, economic losses and the hollowing out of America

·         Related link: National Student Clearinghouse College Enrollment – Spring 2019

·         Related link: College Meltdown: State By State Changes (2018)

·         Related link: Community Colleges at the Heart of College Meltdown (2017)

·         Related link: College Enrollments Continue Decline in Several States (2018)

·         Related link: A preliminary list of private colleges at risk (2019)

Once again, the National Student Clearinghouse report on college enrollment was enlightening, and devastating. US college enrollment has been declining steadily for at least eight years, and community colleges and for-profit colleges are hardest hit--but that's only part of the story.

State by state losses are not uniform. It appears that they mirror the hollowing out of America.

National Student Clearinghouse reported losses in 40 states, most notably in Alaska, Hawaii, New Mexico, Oregon, and Montana, and Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, Maryland, West Virginia, Florida, and South Carolina, all which have significant and complicated rural histories. 

State	F2011	F2018	Loss/Gain
Alaska	35,473	24,910	31.80%
New Mexico	144,202	111,916	22.30%
Hawaii	65,638	52,043	20.70%
Michigan	633,576	496,668	21.60%
Illinois	758,074	598,316	21.10%
Oregon	253,403	204,007	19.40%
Missouri	411,508	338,230	17.80%
West Virginia	169,510	140,558	17.10%
Montana	55,945	46,610	16.70%
Minnesota	420,655	354,820	15.60%
Arkansas	178,628	151,238	15.30%
Louisiana	261,494	224,534	14.10%
Kentucky	277,688	239,774	13.70%
Indiana	402,850	349,547	13.20%
Oklahoma	211,151	182,507	13.60%
Pennsylvania	755,158	654,165	13.30%
Ohio	689,862	599,111	13.20%
Wisconsin	350,803	304,478	13.20%
Maryland	387,487	337,683	12.90%
North Dakota	56,359	49,329	12.40%
Wyoming	32,729	28,904	11.70%
Iowa	221,732	196,511	11.30%
Nebraska	141,944	126,561	10.80%
New York	1,191,463	1,063,775	10.70%
New Jersey	421,196	379,812	9.80%
Mississippi	180,310	163,428	9.40%
Kansas	203,748	184,721	9.30%
Massachusetts	477,423	433,745	9.10%
Florida	1,077,332	985,508	8.50%
Colorado	320,626	294,234	8.20%
Virginia	529,007	486,141	8.10%
Maine	70,051	64,383	8.10%
Washington	343,300	316,814	7.70%
Vermont	43,201	39,965	7.50%
South Carolina	246,121	229,940	6.60%
North Carolina	555,392	521,522	6.10%
Tennessee	320,979	302,520	5.80%
Rhode Island	72,722	68,503	5.80%
District of Columbia	77,652	73,813	4.90%
California	2,559,423	2,466,138	3.60%
Georgia	525,734	511,152	2.80%
Nevada	112,736	109,995	2.50%
Alabama	294,853	289,738	1.70%
Connecticut	193,381	187,010	1.40%
Delaware	56,103	56,196	0.00%
South Dakota	45,398	46,980	3.50%
Texas	1,431,062	1,485,924	3.80%
Idaho	96,649	100,937	4.40%
Arizona	427,789	448,323	4.80%
Utah*	254,731	344,895	35.40%
New Hampshire*	78,112	152,065	94.70%

A county by county analysis of enrollment patterns could provide even more understanding. In this case, we also see significant declines in urban areas that have been deindustrialized, depopulated, and underfunded. 

Enrollment losses in some cases lead to campus closings, and in some cases these campus closings lead to economic hardship. Conservative economist Richard Vedder has been observing enrollment losses in the Midwest for years. And Elizabeth Hewitt described in detail the economic ripple effects for small college towns in a 2019 Hechinger Report. But the story was mostly about New England. And from what the NSC reports, some of the biggest losses are outside New England and the Midwest.

What's happening in your neck of the woods? Can someone tell us what's happening on in Alaska, Hawaii, and New Mexico, where enrollments are decreasing dramatically and for so many years? Is it just that the economy is doing well, or are there other important stories to tell?