On Campus Podcast – 2024 Year in Review: The Top 10 Stories in Higher Education

Ed Butch: Welcome to On Campus with CITI Program, the podcast where we explore the complexities of the campus experience with higher education experts and researchers. I’m your host, Ed Butch, and I’m thrilled to have you with us today. Before we get started, I want to quickly note that this podcast is for educational purposes only and is not designed to provide legal advice or guidance. In addition, the views expressed in this podcast are solely those of our guests.

Welcome everyone. Just like everything this time of year, music, movies, and of course podcasts, we are doing our own quick wrap up of 2024 in higher education, as well as closing out season two of On Campus. I want to thank all of our listeners for their dedication and support to our podcasts, and stay tuned at the end of this episode for a quick intro to season three. And with that, here are the top 10 stories from higher education in 2024.

Starting off in number one, the ongoing decline in enrollment. So the U.S. continued to experience a decline in enrollment in 2024, extending a troubling trend. First year enrollment dropped by over 5% with recent high school graduates enrolling at a rate 6% lower than the previous year. Experts attributed this decline to a combination of factors including layering skepticism about the value of a college degree, financial barriers, and of course ongoing technical issues with FAFSA, which we covered in an earlier episode this season. Additionally, the perceptions of political and ideological polarization on campuses discouraged some students from pursuing higher ed. Institutions attempted to adapt, ramping up recruitment efforts, offering new financial aid incentives, but unfortunately, many rural and regional colleges saw sharp declines in their student populations. So we’ll see how this continues, especially with the enrollment cliff into 2025 and beyond.

The second story was the impact of the Supreme Court’s affirmative action decision. So this of course happened back in 2023, the court’s decision to end affirmative action in college admissions. But it did continue to reshape admission policies in 2024. Many institutions face challenges in maintaining their diverse student bodies without the use of race conscious criteria. Now, some universities did implement what they called race neutral policies, focusing more on things like socioeconomic background, first gen status, and geographic diversity. However, some of the early data does show significant declines in enrollment of underrepresented minority students, particularly at some of the, “Elite institutions.”

Next, we have the student loan resumption and financial strain. So the resumption of federal student loan payments in October 23 placed financial strain on millions of borrowers in this year. With inflation still affecting household budgets, many borrowers just struggled to adjust. President Biden’s administration’s new income driven repayment plan, SAVE, provided some relief for borrowers by capping the monthly payments based on income and family size. But many argue that the program’s rollout was uneven, and it didn’t go far enough to address some of the systemic issues of high student debt and rising tuition costs. So this is going to be something that of course continues into 2025. We’re going to see it with what happens with President Trump when he comes into office, and it’s going to be definitely an ongoing story.

Next, AI transforming higher ed. So the rapid evolution of generative AI tools like ChatGPT really did impact higher education in 2024. Faculty and administrators tried to grapple with how to integrate AI into the curricula while addressing concerns, of course, about academic integrity and student engagement. There were many institutions that did adopt AI guidelines, encouraging students to use tools like ChatGPT responsibly for research and writing, while also maintaining transparency. AI has also revolutionized administrative operations, things like admissions and academic advising, but there are still ethical questions about data privacy and automation.

And I really want to quickly get on my soapbox about this one as two of our guests earlier in this season pointed out that AI, one, is not going anywhere, and two, it isn’t taking anyone’s jobs, at least not at this point. Administrators, faculty and staff really need to figure out how to incorporate AI into their classrooms and practices, or we really will be left behind by many other countries. There are some great organizations out there that are helping educate the educators on AI implementation. So if for faculty and staff that are listening, I really encourage you to look some of those up. All right, so I’ll step down off my soapbox now.

Next, we have the growth of non-traditional and online education. In 2024, non-traditional education options like online degrees, certificate programs, and competency-based learning really did continue to grow. Many major universities expanded their partnerships with online education platforms so that they could offer flexible degree programs targeting working adults and career changers. The rise of micro-credentialing and skills-based training also really reflected employers focus on practical competencies over traditional degrees. These trends highlighted a shift toward more modular lifelong learning modules, with many students opting for stackable credentials instead of committing to a four-year degree program. Now again, as someone that comes from a liberal arts background, I see the importance of this, but I also want to really stress at least my own values of believing that the critical thinking and many other skills that come along with a traditional degree in liberal arts is still extremely important as well.

Next, we have free community college gaining traction. So there has been momentum for free community college initiatives gaining ground in 2024, as many states did implement tuition-free programs. There were successful models that happened in Tennessee and Oregon. And now, new states like Michigan and Texas are rolling out programs offering free tuition for qualifying students. The federal government has also announced pilot programs for a nationwide initiative, although of course, the funding challenges and political disagreements will probably delay any sort of broader implementation. But these programs really are aimed to address declining enrollment in community colleges, and boost workforce development programs in industries like healthcare technology and renewable energy.

Next, something that we’ve heard about now for of course a few years is mental health. And universities really faced a worsening mental health crisis in 2024. Demand for campus counseling services reached unprecedented levels, and many institutions really struggled to meet the need for timely care. This post pandemic generation of students bring higher levels of anxiety, depression, and burnout that are really driven by that financial insecurity, the academic pressure, and the social isolation. In response, universities have invested, many of them, in teletherapy services, peer networks, and resilience training programs. However, there’s of course a lot of critics about the systemic issues and the overemphasis on academic competition, and lack of community building really remain undressed.

Next, we have legislative efforts targeting higher ed. So state legislatures played an increasingly prominent role in shaping higher ed policy this year. Several states introduced bills aimed at limiting DEI initiatives on campuses, as well as restricting discussions around race, gender, and sexual orientation. Conversely, some other states expanded their public funding for public universities in strengthening protections for academic freedom. And these stark divides really fuel debates around the role of higher education in fostering critical thinking versus promoting ideological agendas. And institutions really caught in the crossfire. So it’s going to be interesting to see going into 2025, our change in federal administration, and to see really where things go with these legislative efforts.

Next, we have funding challenges for public universities. And so of course, again, as the trend has been, public universities are facing significant funding challenges due to declining state appropriations, and of course increased operational costs. So many institutions raise tuition to offset budget shortfalls, but this of course sparked protests from students and advocacy groups. Federal funding initiatives like grants for research and innovation did provide some relief, but there was just a growing disparity between flagship universities and regional colleges. And the financial struggles of these institutions highlighted the broader concerns about what is a sustainable model for funding U.S. higher education. So this is going to be something that we hear more and more about.

And finally, number 10 is workforce development partnerships. And this one definitely, I think we end on a high note because we really saw in 2024 higher ed institutions increasingly partner with private sector companies to address work for shortages. In fields like healthcare, cybersecurity, renewable energy, we saw these expanded collaborations between colleges and employers by providing apprenticeships, co-op programs, and job placement guarantees. So these partnerships really aim to align curricula with the industry needs, and provide students with the practical experience. So that’s really been a positive aspect of some of these issues that we’ve been seeing are these high level partnerships. And especially when you see job placement guarantees, that is huge for the students, and of course those employers that are providing those as well.

So these are the stories that really highlighted the dynamic challenges and some of the opportunities faced by higher ed in 2024. As many of these institutions, most institutions really navigated, shifting societal expectations, financial pressures and technological advancements. So it’ll be very interesting to see what 2025 brings for higher ed, and of course beyond that as well.

But for this podcast, 2025 is going to bring a brand new season to our listeners. So season three is going to have an overall theme around the engaged campus. So each episode, we’re going to cover a different topic and a different way that universities can help students become more engaged with the community as well as their future career. So we’re going to highlight programs like student entrepreneurship spaces, study abroad opportunities, and co-ops.

And to start the season, I will be talking with Elliot Felix, who is the author of a very popular higher ed blog, and the host of the Connected College Podcast. And our conversation is going to really serve as the foundation for all of the episodes that follow. So I really want to just take a minute and thank all of our listeners for their support throughout the year, and wish everyone a very happy New Year, and I look forward to interacting with you all in 2025.

I invite all of our listeners to visit citiprogram.org to learn more about our courses and webinars on research, ethics, compliance, and higher education. I look forward to bringing you more expert guests to discuss what’s happening on campus.