- Sep 13, 2002
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Some good news out of the Iowa BOR meeting this week.
FTA:
Pontius addressed the elephant always in the room when it comes to enrollment — the enrollment cliff — and said that while an estimated 15% decline of high school graduates is expected to occur nationally between 2025 and 2029, it will have varying impacts on different regions.
According to the report, Iowa will “experience only moderate declines in its high school graduate population between 2027 and 2029,” while states like Wisconsin and Illinois will see much larger drops. Pontius said Iowa is set to start seeing declines in high school graduates after 2026, unlike national trends, and it looks like another dip could happen a decade from now.
“What’s interesting in Iowa is, while the nation looks like the class of fall of 2025 is going to be the high water mark, we are going to go, it looks like, a little bit higher in 2026 before the decline begins,” Pontius said. “So yes, there is a decline, I hesitate to call it a cliff, and yes, we are looking to have a second one, starting again around 2034.”
iowacapitaldispatch.com
FTA:
Pontius addressed the elephant always in the room when it comes to enrollment — the enrollment cliff — and said that while an estimated 15% decline of high school graduates is expected to occur nationally between 2025 and 2029, it will have varying impacts on different regions.
According to the report, Iowa will “experience only moderate declines in its high school graduate population between 2027 and 2029,” while states like Wisconsin and Illinois will see much larger drops. Pontius said Iowa is set to start seeing declines in high school graduates after 2026, unlike national trends, and it looks like another dip could happen a decade from now.
“What’s interesting in Iowa is, while the nation looks like the class of fall of 2025 is going to be the high water mark, we are going to go, it looks like, a little bit higher in 2026 before the decline begins,” Pontius said. “So yes, there is a decline, I hesitate to call it a cliff, and yes, we are looking to have a second one, starting again around 2034.”
Iowa Board of Regents optimistic about future enrollment • Iowa Capital Dispatch
The Iowa Board of Regents’ report on fall 2024 enrollment painted an optimistic picture when brought up against national fears.
iowacapitaldispatch.com
