Anticipating the Demographic Future: Dramatic Changes are on the way

doubt there's an educator who isn't generally aware of shifting demographic trends and the changing composition of minority students in the average classroom. Despite this awareness, the significance of these demographic changes to higher education remains vague and undefined. As a result, educators have yet to develop a sense of urgency in line with the dramatic nature of these changes and their long-term consequences for the United States. As the United States exits the 1980s, its population growth rate is at an historical low point. Right now, there are 21 million women in the prime childbearing ages of 20 to 29 3 million more than in 1975 yet the rate of childbearing continues to hover at about 1.8 births per woman (contrasted with nearly 3.7 births per woman in the late 1950s). These figures reflect an overall downward trend