Erica Lusk

1 month ago | chronicle.com | Graham Vyse |Erica Lusk |Maura Mahoney |Carmen Mendoza

You keep hearing about the “demographic cliff” higher education is facing. It’s an ominous-sounding term for the steep decline in traditional-age students projected to start by 2026, with the number of new high-school graduates expected to fall by about 13 percent by 2041. The consequences of the cliff will vary across geographic regions and types of institutions, yet there’s widespread worry about its effect. How did higher ed get to this precipice? And what does it mean for students?

Jun 12, 2024 | chronicle.com | Michael Theis |Erica Lusk |Maura Mahoney

Maryann Dang, 18, grew up in Winona, a rural town in Mississippi that is so small, she says, people stop in for “just a little bit, to get gas on the way to somewhere else, or to, like, pick up some food, but they never really stay.” She herself never expected to leave Winona after high school, and assumed colleges were looking for “high-level kids from the big cities that did all these competitions and won all these awards.” Midway through high school she realized that colleges look for “all...

May 13, 2024 | chroni.cl | Maura Mahoney |Erica Lusk |Carmen Mendoza

Weak educational achievement runs like a fault line through rural American economies. Eighty-five percent of American counties with low educational attainment are rural, and far fewer young adults in rural areas are enrolled in higher education than those in urban or suburban areas. This educational disparity has far-reaching consequences, as the rural counties with the lowest levels of educational achievement have the highest levels of poverty, unemployment, and population loss.

Apr 29, 2024 | chronicle.com | Erica Lusk

Nolan Cook and Will Shafer have a lot in common. They’ve both grown up in Weston, Mo., a rural town with a population of just under 1,800 people that’s about a half-hour’s drive northwest of Kansas City. They’re both 18 years old and about to graduate from the town’s West Platte High School, having done well academically and made well-considered plans for college and a career.

Apr 18, 2024 | chronicle.com | Maura Mahoney |Erica Lusk |Carmen Mendoza

Weak educational achievement runs like a fault line through rural American economies. Eighty-five percent of American counties with low educational attainment are rural, and far fewer young adults in rural areas are enrolled in higher education than those in urban or suburban areas. This educational disparity has far-reaching consequences, as the rural counties with the lowest levels of educational achievement have the highest levels of poverty, unemployment, and population loss.