Dec 10th 10 Posted by Brenda Harms in Adult Students, Featured Articles

What the Future Holds

In September 2009, the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) came out with a 168-page report that looked at enrollment projections to 2018 in elementary as well as secondary education. The report itself is a good (if long) read, but there are a few pieces specifically that I think help tell the story for those of us offering programming to adult students at the undergraduate and graduate levels. 

The initial projections from this report show an overall upward trend across the age ranges in enrollment in some form of secondary education. Between 2007 and 2018, enrollment is projected to increase:  

• 9 percent for students who are 18 to 24 years old,
• 25 percent for students who are 25 to 34 years old, and
• 12 percent for students who are 35 years old and over.

That being said, this additional information provides further insight into what type of education these new students will be pursuing:

• 12 percent for undergraduate students,
• 18 percent for graduate students, and
• 20 percent for first-professional students (dentistry, medicine, optometry, osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, podiatric medicine, veterinary medicine, chiropractic, law, and theological).

And while all of this information is interesting, the big “oh, wow” moment came for me when I looked at this breakdown which clearly demonstrates that the way our classrooms (in person and online) look will begin to shift dramatically in the next several years: 

• 4 percent for students who are white,
• 26 percent for students who are black,
• 38 percent for students who are Hispanic,
• 29 percent for students who are Asian or Pacific Islander,
• 32 percent for students who are American Indian or Alaska native, and
• 14 percent for students who are nonresident aliens.

I think this information forces all of us to look at ourselves and ask a serious question: Are we prepared to attract, enroll, and graduate the students of the next decade? Look around your current adult (undergraduate and graduate) classrooms; it is in those students that you more than likely already have your answer. 

Photo by: By Stuck in Customs Trey Ratcliff