Over the past few years, Eduventures has pointed to several developing tensions in the graduate market, including a falling graduate enrollment rate and a program supply far outpacing demand.

In the current enrollment cycle, more than 1,800 four-year colleges and universities are test-optional or test-blind according to The National Center for Fair and Open Testing. Broadly sparked by pandemic necessity, most institutions have extended their testing policies beyond the pandemic, often signaling a wish to remove barriers of access to higher education.

Mixed economic signals can be challenging to navigate. Despite headlines trumpeting layoffs and, most recently, bank failures, most indicators still point to a hot labor market.

Colorado College and RISD recently made news by pulling out of the U.S. News and World Report rankings. Their decisions follow those of Harvard and Yale law schools, among others, that made this same announcement last year.