Office of the President

Higher Ed Forecast Remains Bright for Southeast

Dr. Marsha Danielson, President, Minnesota State College Southeast

Like most lifelong Minnesotans, I don’t venture out in the winter months without first checking the weather forecast and road conditions.

Knowing what to expect and preparing accordingly are key factors for arriving at your destination safely. Sometimes postponing your travels until conditions improve is most prudent.

Checking the forecast is also beneficial as a leader in higher education.

In recent years, it feels like everyone is predicting storms ahead for post-secondary education and the long-term outlook is gloomy.

The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) contracted with the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems to assess and identify the external influences nationally that impact community colleges like Minnesota State College Southeast.

The ensuing report, “Resilient By Design,” outlines many of the challenges facing higher education: declining enrollments as a result of fewer high school students, political rhetoric questioning the value of higher education, growing financial pressures, changing workforce dynamics, and students’ shifting needs and expectations post pandemic. Throw in the disruption AI portends, and you can see why college presidents can’t fall asleep at night.

Given the variety of issues confronting community colleges, the report stresses “the need to reimagine planning and develop strategies for leaders to become the architects of the future of the nation’s largest sector of higher education.”

It goes on to say, “We must design our colleges for resilience, not react to change.”

Southeast is not immune to these headwinds, but it is well positioned to address many of these challenges head on. That’s in part because we anticipated some of these challenges and took proactive steps to mitigate them.

For example, higher education leaders have known for years that the so-called “enrollment cliff” was coming. The declining number of traditional college-age students has been evident in the K-12 system for years. With that in mind, Southeast became a direct admissions institution early, and secured financial commitments for two promise programs to entice students from nine area high schools and home schoolers. As a result, Southeast’s year-over-year enrollment growth has defied national trends over the past four years.  

List some of the challenges facing the sector.

Outline some of the ways Southeast has already adjusted to anticipate these issues and is well positioned for the road ahead