Dive Brief:

• The Chronicle of Higher Education looked at Census data and found fewer young children than 18-year-olds, suggesting a demographic cliff may be ahead for colleges trying to fill classrooms.
• The report also finds that fewer young children are white or black, with the number of Hispanics and Asians growing.
• One trend that may point to a change in the way colleges do business: Particularly in many wealthy, educated areas that could traditionally be counted on to produce high-school graduates that enrolled in colleges, the number of young children is on the decline.

Dive Insight:

The amount of data is almost dizzying, but a search tool makes it easier to see trends. The Chronicle is quick to point out that these are not absolute predictors of enrollment. Migration, dropouts, adult learners and other trends mean that these numbers do not necessarily predict college enrollment. But they do offer trends worth studying.