A decade ago, the world was not prepared for the widespread impact of the global financial recession. Gradually, the operating focus of higher education sector in many high-income countries around shifted, causing budget-cuts to become a recurring and dominant theme. Yet, at the same time, the expanding middle-class in emerging countries were keen to gain international experience – thus fueling student mobility.

We looked back at 2018 and ahead to the New Year to determine where college leaders can expect to focus their attention in the coming months.

The pressures on colleges as 2019 opens are numerous. They include — but are no means limited to — historically low state financing, competition over shrinking pools of potential students, slowed growth in international student enrollment, and a push from nearly all stakeholders for proof of return on their investments, often in the form of workforce-ready graduates.