Study Shows Probable Decline In Georgia’s Higher Education Enrollment

A new study suggests Georgia’s colleges, the smaller ones in particular, will see a significant decline in enrollment by the year 2025.

Andy Hannah helped author a study on national enrollment trends and he joined “Morning Edition” host Lisa Rayam to discuss higher education in Georgia.

Hannah is co-founder and chairman of Othot, an educational analytics platform that studies enrollment trends. He is also an adjunct professor of analytics at the University of Pittsburgh.

Hannah said Georgia colleges could see a decrease of more than 8,000 students over the next decade. He said the institutions in Georgia that recruit locally will see the biggest decline, while those who recruit nationally are more secure.

The drop-off in attendance is partly due to the pandemic, but mainly because of a decline in birth rates that began around 2008 associated with the Great Recession.

According to Hannah, many of Georgia’s neighboring states will see an uptick in first-time college students over the next several years.

Hannah said colleges and universities can use the data his firm produces to recruit from areas with higher growth rates and to improve their retention rates.

Christopher Alston contributed to this report.