Recent articles and blog posts I’ve reviewed suggest five trends posing significant risks for colleges and universities, if higher ed leaders don’t pay attention. Being aware of the data behind these trends is the first step to identifying productive responses. (If you just want to jump to the articles click here.)

#1: Underemployment really is growing among recent graduates.

The challenges Millennials face in launching their careers are becoming a cliché. In fact, there is a lot of confusion about how new college graduates are faring in the job market. To read some college press releases you’d think, there was no problem getting a job after leaving school. (“98% of our graduates are employed or in graduate school six months after graduation.” Spare me!) But a blog post in The Chronicle of Higher Education provides more useful detail on underemployment among recent grads. A study by the New York Federal Reserve concluded:

“Even though the level of underemployment was comparable to the early 90s,” said Jaison R. Abel, a researcher at the [Federal Reserve] bank, “when you look at the types of jobs held by underemployed recent grads, you see a smaller share are working in good noncollege jobs and a larger share are working in low-wage jobs.” That pattern “indicates that the quality over all has deteriorated,” Mr. Abel added.

According to the bank’s data, nearly twice as many recent underemployed graduates hold low-paying jobs (less than $25,000 per year in salary, such as retail clerk or waiter) today as they did in the early 1990s. Meanwhile, the share of underemployed graduates with what are called “good noncollege jobs,” like electrician or mechanic, which pay above $45,000 per year, has dropped significantly.

Is your school taking practical steps to support young alumni who may be struggling? See my recent book Graduate to a Great Job for ideas about the kind of help new grads need.

#2: There is a shortage of talent and inadequate leadership development in most schools’ top administration teams.

A new study by McKinsey reports on the “talent gap” at the top of many non-profit organizations and discusses solutions that can help university leaders accelerate the development of top team members.

Are you developing the leadership talent you will need in your top team to implement your school’s strategy? Are you focusing enough on the leadership skills that will be needed in the future? Contact me if you want to explore practical ideas for accelerating leadership development.

#3: Today’s students need to acquire more specialized, professional skills to be competitive in the job market.

Is your school doing enough to help students build professional skills that play well in the job market? A recent article in The Wall Street Journal said:

“Already saddled with debt, students in a variety of majors, but especially within liberal-arts subjects, political science and arts programs, are finding that a bachelor’s degree often provides skills that are too general to land a job. So they are increasingly signing up for coding boot camps, online classes or going to community college. Together the options represent a developing rung in the hierarchy of higher education, modern-day finishing school.”
One president of a prestigious liberal arts college told me he wanted his school to better help students use the 40% of time not devoted to traditional classes to acquire supplemental professional skills and experience. He recognizes the need to use independent study, school breaks and summer vacations more creatively to prepare graduates for the changing job market.

#4: Location matters…. a lot! Savvy higher ed leaders are proactively exploring ways to collaborate with local officials to better support the social and economic needs of their students.

An article in The Boston Globe details how school administrators and city leaders in Worcester, Mass. are collaborating to overcome some of the challenges facing colleges located in this aging Northern city. Click here to see how The College of the Holy Cross promoted this story.

Are you partnering with your school’s city or town officials to maximize the social and economic benefits for students?

#5: The changing demographic pool of college students has dramatic implications for the potential survival of many liberal arts schools.

What do changing demographic trends mean for your school? U.S. News recently reported:

“In August, the National Center for Education Statistics reported that, for the first time, the total percentage of minority students – Latinos, African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Pacific Islanders and Native Americans combined – is larger than the percentage of whites in public grade-school classrooms this year.

“Meanwhile, in California, the state’s flagship, nine-school University of California system announced an eye-opening milestone: that it has admitted more Latino students (29 percent) than whites (27 percent) for the 2014 academic year.”

Are you thinking about the strategic implications of these shifts? What will be the effects on student enrollment, financial aid, alumni giving, curriculum, and your infrastructure for supporting career development? Contact me if you want to start more productive discussions about the implications of these changes for your institution.

I’ve created a special page with links to articles behind these trends. Click here to share it with colleagues. And contact me here to explore ways I can help your leadership team get more traction addressing these challenges.