Many countries around the globe are grappling with numerous challenges as pertains to their education systems. For instance, higher education has been bedeviled by claims of deteriorating quality, financial challenges, and a myriad of other issues affecting both students and staff. One of the contemporary issues affecting universities, especially in the United States, is the problem of shrinking enrollment.
Most American universities have reported a drop in their intake quotas. This scenario cannot be allowed to persist because its consequences may have far-reaching consequences for the United States’ economic wellbeing. Therefore, there is a need to tackle this problem early enough by seeking its root cause and stamping it out to rejuvenate the enrollment trends at universities.
If addressed well, this problem will bring several benefits to the economy of the United States and other countries whose citizens seek professional training in American universities.
Some of the positive developments that can be realized by solving this problem include supplying the labor market with adequate professional manpower to avert any crises that are typical of doing otherwise, providing a job-market relevant workforce when it is needed, and ensuring a smooth transition from one generation of employees to the next. This goal can only be achieved when there is an adequate supply of professionals relevant to all fields of the job market at all times.
The greatest challenge affecting universities today is that of being unable to raise funds capable of financing their programs as desired. In the past, public or government universities have depended heavily on financial support from the central government. All funds ranging from those used for financing research and developmental studies to those that finance co-curriculum activities and infrastructural development largely came from government coffers.
However, in the recent past, the government appears to be overwhelmed by the gigantic financial burden it is carrying. Consequently, it has cut down on some areas of recurrent spending, thus forcing universities to run on lean budgets. As a measure of balancing this scenario, universities should come up with acceptable ways of raising the extra funds necessary for their normal operations. Enrolment of foreign students is a viable option on top of investing in profitable ventures that can yield funds for all programs at different levels.
Besides financial woes facing universities, the global recession has also taken its toll on these institutions. Many companies decided to cut down on employees and as a result, numerous people, whose employment prospectus seemed slim, flocked institutions of higher learning to increase their qualifications.
Economies seem to be recovering from the adverse effects of this recession, and thus, institutions are experiencing lower enrolment rates. The best way to handle this situation would be to find golden means, which the institutions would strive to achieve higher enrolment levels no matter the circumstances by applying a variety of techniques that they have at their disposal. This move would deliver reasonable numbers of students in low seasons and balance out the excess in the high seasons.
Tackling the diminishing enrollment rates is the only viable option in the face of the prevailing conditions, as many economies will greatly benefit from the availability of adequate and relevant workforce in the job market. Stakeholders, viz. the government, all other authorities concerned with higher, and the citizens should thus stop watching the situation helplessly and rise to action because the task is not too large to accomplish.