Rhoneisms

From what I’ve gleaned from the few conversations I’ve now had with the admissions staff at the few colleges and universities we’ve toured (a dozen or so at this point), they really have no idea what is about to happen to them. Everything they’ve come to expect — in fact count on — is about to get upended.

Sure, many know about the enrollment cliff that begins with the incoming 2026 class (those born in 2008). Of course, many had a plan. That plan included leaning more heavily into recruitment and enrollment of international students. Of course, that will likely not be a viable option going forward. Not only will international students likely not be able to come in the first place but they will likely soon lose many they currently have due to mass revocation of student visas and other measures.

One we spoke with talked about reaching out to rural areas, but those kids and their families are going to be some of the hardest hit in the current back and forth of trade policies and destruction of federal agencies and services. Families desperate to hold on to their livelihoods will be unlikely to send their kids off for a liberal arts education to a school far away.

Then there’s the fact that Federal loan and grant services are currently up in the air and likely to be greatly curtailed if not all out eliminated so paying for college will be difficult for all but a few.

Add to that the war on higher ed, funding, international student visas, and anything that might have the faintest whiff of “DEI” and what I’m left with is a sense of impermanence. Many college and universities will not survive such all out assaults. The drop in enrollment that will happen over the next few years due to all of the above has gone from a cliff to a straight drop off.

In fact, at this point it all sounds like these institutions are still stuck in a world and spouting a script that should just as well be part of some course called “101: History of Collegiate Admissions 1900-2024”.

Therefore, as we’ve gone on these college tours, looking at schools for our current high school junior, I’ve taken in every piece of data regarding acceptance rates, diversity, financial aid availability, touting their status as a “research institution”, study abroad programs, etc. with the firm understanding that none of it is correct. All of it has already changed or will change in the next few months – let alone the next year when Beatrix is, hopefully, getting accepted to the places she likes and is having to make choices about her future.

I’m unsure what to make of it all. I’m hoping that someone would just be honest with us about the whole thing. I’d love to walk into a info session and have the Associate Director of Admissions get up at the podium and say, “Everything I would normally tell you in the next hour is likely no longer applicable and we have no idea about our very future as an institution let alone anything about your young person’s.”

I feel like I’m being gaslit by the entire process.

I’m begging for someone brave enough to admit the truth of not knowing and bold enough to say it and to recognize the challenges that face my kid and so many others.

At least I’d feel some comfort in the unknowing. Less alone in the murky depths of now.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Especially if you work at a college or university, Please feel free to reach out.