The Agile College: How Institutions Successfully Navigate Demographic Change is available from Johns Hopkins University Press, Amazon, and other booksellers.
Adopting an interview and case study method in order to directly connect the changing demographic landscape with institutional innovation, The Agile College is equal parts prescriptive and strategic. Empowering institutions in regions that will be hardest hit by population changes, this logical, clear, and effective book is applicable to a broad range of universities. It will generate broad interest in both higher education and policy circles.
W. Joseph King, President, Lyon College, coauthor of How to Run a College: A Practical Guide for Trustees, Faculty, Administrators, and Policymakers
Grawe makes another indispensable contribution to the work of transforming higher education by extending his analysis of demographic change and – and most importantly – by providing clear and compelling examples of colleges and universities that that have proactively responded to these trends. The author supplements these accounts with his own wise insights about tailoring this work to each institution’s culture and values. The result is the definitive resource for presidents, provosts, and other leaders seeking informed and practical guidance in designing their institutions for a sustainable future.
Susan Campbell Baldridge, Provost, Middlebury Colelge, co-author of The College Stress Test: Tracking Institutional Futures across a Crowded Market
In this accessible and timely volume, Grawe draws on his well-known skills as a demographer to update his estimates of the demographic issues we face. Then he goes into the world to see what different colleges are doing about them. Here’s hoping that Grawe’s much-needed work starts a trend while there’s still time.
Matthew Reed, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Brookdale Community College
I am truly envious of Nathan Grawe’s demographic dexterity. His new book delivers a detailed, eminently readable, and near encyclopedic summary of what we need to know about higher education’s shifting enrollment pools. And that’s just for openers. Much of the book is devoted to a compendium of initiatives that do in fact work. What concludes the study is the best bibliography of demographic and related studies focusing on American higher education that I know of. Interested in understanding the market—here’s the place to start.
Robert M. Zemsky, Professor, University of Pennsylvania and co-author of The College Stress Test: Tracking Institutional Futures across a Crowded Market and Making Sense of the College Curriculum
Nathan D. Grawe’s new book updates data about future college-goers and proposes many promising strategies and novel tactics for colleges as they navigate today’s demographic, economic, and public health minefields. Grawe’s shrewd insights and map of the terrain will give college leaders the essential knowledge for their institutions to succeed in the turbulent days ahead.
Richard Ekman, President, Council of Independent Colleges
Nathan Grawe again looks beyond national averages to provide important insights to college leaders for the next decade and beyond. He draws on a wide variety of stories from across higher education to make a clear-eyed, clearly presented case for thoughtful but assertive leadership and planning. Neither apocalyptic nor Pollyannaish, The Agile College is an important read.
Jon McGee, Head of School, Saint John’s Prep, author of Breakpoint: The Changing Market for Higher Education and Dear Parents: A Field Guide for College Preparation
