More than 1 million fewer students are enrolled in college now than before the pandemic began.” So stated the January NPR report citing data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. From 2019 to 2021, colleges and universities across the country saw a 6.6% drop in enrollment.

It is important to understand this in the scheme of admissions trends. Enrollment has been on a strong downward trend for years. From 2011 to 2019, for example, college enrollment went down by 11%. Nonetheless, it did intensify in the last two years.

Traditionally, alumni play a significant role in college fundraising. As Werner put it, “Universities are in an interesting position as compared to other nonprofits. They have a built-in, known, constituency … as a college or university you know that you have X number of people who spent years of their life here.” The college experience instills affinity like nothing else can. Not only do students spend a good number of years at these institutions, but they are also their most formative years.

This is precisely why alumni are such a fundamental part of university fundraising. As we’ve discussed before, people give money to nonprofits because of identity and belongingness. Attending a particular university gives alumni a deep sense of those two things.

Despite this, the percentage of alumni that give has gone down. Hanover Research tells us “Only 5% of alumni from public universities donated to their alma maters, while 18% of private university alumni participated in giving.” Naturally, if the percentage of alumni giving goes down but the sum of alumni giving goes up, then the amount per gift is going up—which is a trend we are seeing outside of the university as well.

Read the full article about downward higher education trends by James Davenport at Philanthropy Daily.