Consultant warns enrollment decline and misaligned spending threaten CSCU; recommends governance overhaul and statewide coordination

Brian Prescott, president of the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, told the Higher Education Financial Sustainability Advisory Board that his team’s ARPA‑funded, third‑party study of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) system documents long‑term enrollment drops and structural issues that threaten fiscal sustainability.

"Enrollment declines are not just happening in Connecticut," Prescott said, summarizing national trends that have hit public comprehensive and two‑year institutions hardest. He cited Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education projections showing Connecticut’s high‑school graduate count is projected to fall about 4 percent between 2023 and 2030, compared with a 10 percent national drop, and warned that declining traditional‑age cohorts combined with lower college‑going rates compound pressure on campus budgets.

The report, Prescott said, rests on federal IPEDS data, Census and state sources, a peer survey conducted with the National Association of State Higher Education Systems, and extensive stakeholder visits and consultations with institutional leaders, faculty, students and employers.

Key findings include:

- A mismatch between enrollment and personnel: staffing levels have not fallen in line with enrollment, leaving a higher employee‑to‑student…