The responses to disruptions on enrollment declines in higher education institutions: the lesson learned from the United States, Japan, and Thailand

Higher education (HIED) has a critical role in social and economic development and the role of education is one of the competitive powers at an international level in a globalizing world. Disruptions to HIED enrollment worldwide include demographic shifts, economic fluctuations, and social and technology changes. The purpose of this study is to explore the responses to the disruptions on HIED enrollment declines of three countries; the United States, Japan and Thailand. Objectives of this study are to understand the disruptions that affect enrollment declines and to explore how the three countries dealt with the disruptions on HIED enrollment declines. Documentary analysis and interviews are employed as the method to complete this study. The overview of current disruptions that affect declining enrollment is addressed. HIED institutional plans, federal/government involvement, and international cooperation are described regarding how the three countries have responded to the disruptions. To address declining enrollment, the US HIED institutional plans focused on campus funding relocation, dual admission program enrollment, degree completion on time, online learning, and micro-credentials. Whereas Japan stressed diversifying programs to meet the needs of labor markets, relocating campuses to urban centers, and closing failing institutions. Thailand’s institutional focus is to recruit more international students, create modern academic programs, and improve digital technology for learning. US federal involvement had a strong commitment to make college more affordable. Japan government improved lifelong learning education that contributes to the labor skill system and increased opportunity for women in the workforce. In similarity, the government of Thailand developed lifelong learning policies and encouraged higher education institutions (HEIs) to become change agents in innovation. For international cooperation, the US individual institutions created more exchange programs in academia and research with visa application support. International cooperation led by Japanese government aimed to promote international student mobility and exchange programs. Whereas Thailand HEIs encouraged more international recruitment to offset declining enrollment. Significantly, the United States, Japan, and Thailand have practice of HIED internationalization in common to bolster education enrollment by welcoming more international students such as from China to the programs. Japanese and Thai HEIs made numerous efforts to improve international community at HEIs to attract the newcomers and enhance the country’s academic competitiveness in the global stage. Impacts on HEIs will be variable based on institutional characteristics to include the prestige of the schools, academic focus, financial resources, location, and size.