For decades now, education advocates have tracked college enrollment rates for black and Latino students and first generation children of immigrants.

That focus on students from underrepresented backgrounds was meant as a

correction to the era when people of color were not always welcome on college roles. But a recent

demographic shift at schools presents a different kind of enrollment problem. These days,

white student enrollments are falling three times faster than the national average.

From KERA in Dallas, this is think. I'm Chris Boyd.

This phenomenon started before the pandemic, but has grown markedly since that time.

And now, both two- and four-year institutions are trying to navigate the financial fallout

while asking uncomfortable questions

about whether it's appropriate to more actively recruit white students who for a long time were

vastly overrepresented. Catherine Mangan is senior writer at the Chronicle of Higher Education,

which published her article, Where Are the White Students? Catherine, welcome to think.

Hi, Chris. I'm looking forward to the conversation.

So the pandemic years may have been an aberration, but overall decline in college enrollments started before then.

They have continued since everything opened back up. What are some of the broad reasons for this trend among all students?

Among all of these students, we're definitely finding that ever since the great recession,

there's been a downturn in college enrollment.

Part of it is just the fact that demographic trends, there have been declining birth rates.

There are fewer students graduating from high school

who are potentially ready to enter colleges. But also, there's just a feeling that for a lot of

students, there's a questioning of whether college is worth the time and expense of a four-year degree.

I gather demand is as high as ever for admission to highly elite schools, but those

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