October 17, 2024 | Read Online

The enrollment cliff isn't going away any time soon

Good news! Enrollment is up at many schools across the county. Bad news! Nobody is out of the woods yet

Good morning, and thanks for your continued support of Extra Points.

Quick housekeeping note. We are hiring our first new full-timer!

In a typical week, I write somewhere between 6,000-8,000 words, spend another few hours on the Extra Points Library, talk to sources, update ADS4000, and try to read enough to stay current in the industry. After four years, it’s become clear that I simply don’t have enough time to sell all the stuff I’m making.

So we’re hiring a full-time Account Executive to help us sell ad space in these newsletters, bulk subscription packages, and access to the Extra Points Library. This is a remote job with a FT salary + commission structure. In a perfect world, I’d love somebody with some experience selling either digital ads or working in the sports industry, but we can train the right person. Please click this link for more information and application instructions.

The Enrollment Cliff ain’t getting much easier….at least in the short term

Rising labor costs and regulatory changes aren’t the only massive threat to the college athletics status quo…plenty of schools out there are worrying about staying open, thanks to the Enrollment Cliff.

The Enrollment Cliff means that the United States just isn’t producing as many college students as it used to, thanks to declining birth rates, students pursuing non-college options, international recruitment becoming more competitive, and other demographic factors. If there aren’t as many students to go around, that means recruiting students becomes even more expensive and difficult.

If you’re a massive state flagship, like Ohio State, Florida or UCLA, you’re probably fine. If you’re a very elite and selective private school, like Yale or NYU, you’re also probably fine….demand for all of those schools, all things considered, remains high.

But readers of this newsletter know that for every Ohio State that exists, there are a whole hell of a lot more schools not like Ohio State out there. And another report shows that the immediate future for the swath of regional public schools, tuition-dependent private schools, and everybody else still looks challenging, even as enrollment ticks slightly upwards.

And since “regional public schools and tuition-dependent private schools” describes almost everybody in D-II and D-III…this is a college sports story.