Colleges Shift Focus to Post-Traditional Students as High School Pipeline Shrinks

By Joshua.Bay · Inside Higher Ed · 2026-07-16

The era of the eighteen-year-old high school graduate dominating campus life is fading according to reporting from Inside Higher Ed. Schools are increasingly forced to overhaul their operations to accommodate adult learners and student parents who now represent nearly half of the

The era of the eighteen-year-old high school graduate dominating campus life is fading according to reporting from Inside Higher Ed. Schools are increasingly forced to overhaul their operations to accommodate adult learners and student parents who now represent nearly half of the