Private regional colleges with small student bodies and high acceptance rates will face increasingly stiff competition from public institutions as higher education braces for widespread demographic challenges, according to a new analysis from Moody’s Ratings. These issues will be particularly pronounced in the Midwest and Northeast, where the fight for a shrinking pool of students is expected to heat up. Moody’s analysts predicted higher education enrollment would plummet in these two regions in the coming years, citing a 2020 report from the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education. Driving up costs, small private colleges have increased spending on employee salaries and student wellness services since the start of the pandemic, Moody’s said. Analysts also noted that “maintaining small class sizes has become more expensive.”