., ThE star and Lamp , What does fewer 8 students in the S mean? *
OF PI KAPPA PHI
WINTER 1980
AN EDUCATIONAL PUBLICATION
4,292,000 EIGHTEEN YEAR OLDS
3,163,000 EIGHTEEN YEAR OLDS
1979
1990
We have no assurance of a future. We do not have the capacity to forecast with 100% accuracy the future with all of its social and human implications.
It is these events and decisions which we must bring into focus, for our Fraternity will reflect its environment, and therein will be found its future.
There are, however, certain progressions that we go through, and it is possible to identify certain events or decisions that are crucially important in determining the character of the future. Also, we should be aware of the relationships between decisions that might be made now, or in the immediate future, and their ultimate consequences for they will establish our environment.
EVENTS AND DECISIONS
As many as 4 out of 10 college students will be over 25 years old (at time of matriculation), many of them part-timers already embarked on careers. Eighteen year olds in the USA number 4,292,000 in 1979, and will be down to 3,163,000 in 1990. Enrollments will decrease 10.7 percent, from 12.4 million in 1980
to about 11 million in 1988. During the decade, 1980-1989, as many as 300 colleges will close, mostly being private and small state institutions. Certainly, by the year 2000, 25% of the currently existing residential liberal arts colleges will be gone. A futurist has stated: "I can foresee that sometime in the early 1980's there will be a year in which there is an average of one college closing per week," reports Dr. Robert Behn of Duke University. Average annual costs for private (CONTINUED ON PAGE 4)