Grasping for a Foothold on the Enrollment Cliff

Higher ed experts gathered in the nation’s capital Thursday— the day the CDC declared an official end to the COVID-19 public health emergency—to reflect on the damage the pandemic dealt to enrollments across the country and discuss how to rebuild. And while the panelists agreed on the depth of the plunge, they were divided on how big a bounce higher ed can muster at the moment—and whether their proposed solutions would boost enrollments to pre-pandemic levels or simply ease the slide to the new normal of reduced head counts.