An article from This week in 5 numbers: The coming decline of high school graduate numbers

From a look into projected demographic changes to another attack on diversity programs, here are figures from some of our recent stories.

Published Jan. 31, 2025 Natalie Schwartz Senior Editor

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Aaron Hawkins via Getty Images

From a deeper look at looming demographic changes to the U.S. Department of Education eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives throughout the agency, here are the top-line figures from some of our biggest stories of the week.

By the numbers   13% The projected decline in high school graduates between this year and 2041, according to a recent forecast from the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. We broke down their projections into five charts to get more insight into the future college student pipeline.   $2.6 million The value of the DEI training and service contracts that the U.S. Department of Education recently canceled. The move is part of a broader initiative at the agency under the Trump administration to stamp out DEI programs.   15,000 The cap on new undergraduate students each year at Texas A&M University’s main campus. Following “massive” enrollment increases, the university said it will pause growth of those students to expand its infrastructure and bolster services.   4 The number of military academies overseen by the Defense and Homeland Security departments. President Donald Trump recently ordered the secretaries of those departments to review leadership, instructors and curriculum of those institutions to cut DEI offices and initiatives.   2 The days between the Trump administration issuing a memo to freeze large buckets of federal funding and officials rescinding that document. However, Trump administration officials say the policy to freeze and review the funding is still in effect. waitToLoadAds.push(function() { googletag.cmd.push(function() { if (window.dfp_visibility == 'mobile' ) { googletag.display('dfp-hybrid1-mobile'); googletag.pubads().addEventListener('slotRenderEnded', function (event) { var adUnitPath = '/21662595662/highereddive/highereddivehybrid1'; var onProformative = false; if (onProformative && event.slot.getAdUnitPath() === adUnitPath && !event.isEmpty ) { var adUnitPathWithVisibility = adUnitPath + '-mobile'; var selector = '.pf-comments__ad-wrapper [data-container-ad-unit-id="' + adUnitPathWithVisibility + '"]'; if (!$(selector).closest('.pf-comments__ad-wrapper').hasClass('borders')) { $(selector).closest('.pf-comments__ad-wrapper').addClass('borders') } } }); } }); }); waitToLoadAds.push(function() { googletag.cmd.push(function() { if (window.dfp_visibility == 'desktop' ) { googletag.display('dfp-hybrid2-desktop'); googletag.pubads().addEventListener('slotRenderEnded', function (event) { var adUnitPath = '/21662595662/highereddive/highereddivehybrid2'; var onProformative = false; if (onProformative && event.slot.getAdUnitPath() === adUnitPath && !event.isEmpty ) { var adUnitPathWithVisibility = adUnitPath + '-desktop'; var selector = '.pf-comments__ad-wrapper [data-container-ad-unit-id="' + adUnitPathWithVisibility + '"]'; if (!$(selector).closest('.pf-comments__ad-wrapper').hasClass('borders')) { $(selector).closest('.pf-comments__ad-wrapper').addClass('borders') } } }); } }); });

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