As classes got underway, President Manya Whitaker sat down to discuss the college’s future with Vice President of Finance & Administration and Chief Financial Officer Lori Seager and Vice President of Enrollment Tony Cabasco in a video interview. The interview was emailed to the campus community on Aug. 26.
The main idea? How the college will continue to “claim its space in higher education,” a tagline Whitaker has used to describe her goals for the college since the beginning of her administration. Whitaker noted the increasingly difficult time for higher education institutions throughout the country, as colleges and universities face challenges such as shifting demographics, artificial intelligence and workforce evolution. The college, she said, has been aware of these challenges for a while.
“We do this work every day, these are not surprises,” Whitaker said. “These are challenges that we’ve been able to address proactively from a position of strength so that we can make change on our own terms.”
Colorado College enrolled only 509 students in the class of 2029, a slight increase from the 491 enrolled in 2025. However, compared to class sizes from the past ten years, enrollment is still low.
Some of this enrollment decline can be attributed to the declining numbers of high school graduates nationwide, in what experts are referring to as the “enrollment cliff,” according to Cabasco.
“According to projections, in the next 10 to 15 years, the number of high school graduates is going to decline by about 15 percent,” he said.
This, experts say, is due to the fact that Americans started having fewer children in 2008 during the Great Recession. The falling birth rate has not recovered since, according to NPR.
“In the first half of last year, more than one college a week announced that it will close,” NPR reported. “Still more new research, from The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, projects that the pace of college closings could now accelerate.”
Some prospective students and families, Cabasco said, are wary of the college’s price tag.
“Cost and affordability have always been an issue, and increasingly parents are putting more emphasis on bottom-line costs than even experiences,” he said.
CC’s tuition with the comprehensive fee reached $93,530 for the 2026-27 academic year, proposed by Whitaker and approved by The Board of Trustees in March. Tuition alone, without fees, stands at $75,702.
The school has yet to surpass a $100k yearly price tag, which is becoming increasingly common for institutions nationwide. In June, CNBC reported that 16 schools had crossed the $100k threshold nationally, though many students are paying significantly less due to aid. Colorado College ranked #6 in a list of the 30 most expensive schools in 2026 from The College Investor.
At the time of the tuition increase announcement, memos from Whitaker’s office said the changes allow the college to “maintain the academic quality and continually enhance the student experience (students) expect and deserve.”
Colorado College remains committed to meeting 100% of students’ demonstrated financial need, Seager said, though finding the money to fund that becomes more difficult as the college faces cuts to state grants and federal work-study programs.
“CC still holds fast to its goals and commitment to meet full demonstrated financial need,” Seager said. “And so, where those resources kind of wane or go away, we need to find CC institutional resources to fill that gap for students.”
“We’re seeing more students and families applying for financial aid, and we’re seeing increased competition for those families that can afford to pay the cost of a CC education. So, it is an interesting, volatile world that we’re in now,” said Cabasco.
Despite the challenges, Seager said CC remains strong due to its “robust liquidity” and “really unique programmatic offerings.” Moving forward, she said, the college will reexamine revenue projections.
Over the course of the last year, the college has undergone an institutional review, the findings of which Whitaker said “confirm what we already know … We have a strong endowment, that we have a distinctive and attractive academic model, we have committed and engaged faculty and staff, and the ability and willingness to execute our strategies.”
Moving forward, the college plans to emphasize building demand, enhancing marketing to reach a broader audience and engaging and enhancing the conversion of admitted students to enrolled students.
“Our sole purpose as an institution is to provide an experience that not only benefits our students, but benefits the communities they serve for generations,” Whitaker said. “The future of higher education will look different than its past. But I am confident we are prepared to meet that moment.”