If change is happening in the market for K-12 education, can higher ed be far behind?
The trends noted above work to the benefit of UATX. The families that have explored alternatives to public schools make up the addressable market. If you have already opted out of the normal path of education, then it is not such a leap to try UATX.
Accordingly, it is reasonable to expect UATX to achieve its aggressive growth goals for the next couple of years. While legacy universities face a declining college-age population, declining high school test scores, and obstacles to filling their classrooms with foreign students, UATX expects to enroll 125 or more students this fall, as many as in the first two years’ classes put together. This will feel like an invasion, with a large and somewhat unpredictable impact on the atmosphere and culture here.
This influx will arrive in the context of governance issues that are roiling higher education today. Thomas W. Smith writes,