There has been a notable and continuing decline in college enrollment in the United States over the last decade, with causes ranging from financial inaccessibility to a skepticism of the benefits of higher education. Far less attention has been directed to the long-term effects of this trend. While some outcomes are to be expected, such as a lack of employment opportunity and lower wage earnings, the lack of higher education can also have an impact on more surprising issues like marital status, access to healthcare and participation in civic engagements such as voting.

Jason Lane, AGB Institute for Leadership & Governance co-director and dean of the College of Education, Health and Society at Miami University spoke with Jon Marcus of the Hechinger Report about the current state of higher education enrollment and how it will likely shape America’s future as a society. “It is a crisis, and I don’t think it’s widely recognized yet that it is,” says Lane.

This story also appeared in The Washington Post.