We have had an eventful and chaotic past few months, and it's a reminder of just how unpredictable the future can be. So for our August issue, we’re looking towards the future to map out what our biggest institutions could look like over the next few decades. For so many of the mainstays of contemporary American life, we are in an uncertain moment of transition, and we’ve dedicated this issue to track where they might go from here.

To kick off the issue, Lilah Burke wrote about the impending crisis in higher education: how demographic shifts and the skyrocketing costs of college will force hundreds of private colleges all over the country to shut their doors over the next decade.

Historically, higher education in America has gotten bigger over time, a trend that has begun to reverse over the past few years. There’s been much talk about demographic shifts and falling birth rates to explain declining cohorts of students who attend four-year colleges, and that ‘s certainly a factor. But the astronomical cost of tuition and the student debt crisis has done a lot to dampen the public’s confidence in higher education. For many, college now has more of a reputation for being an expensive gamble than a path to a financially stable future—is it any wonder that more and more students are choosing to opt out?

You can read the full story here.

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