Are We Falling Over The ‘Enrollment Cliff’ at Rutgers University? Many are forecasting a decline in college age students after 2026, but this ignores the increase in this population over the last several years, according to accounting expert Dr. Howard Bunsis. Despite university executives “crying about this cliff for decades,” it has yet to happen and enrollment at RU is increasing, according to Bunsis.
Population of college age students continues to increase in New Jersey.
Over the past five years, enrollment at Rutgers overall has increased approximately 20 percent.
The number of first-year students has also increased by the same percentage over the same time.
As we negotiate a new union contract to succeed the one due to expire June 30, 2026, it is important that we understand Rutgers finances. If Rutgers management claims they cannot afford fair raises, because of a pending enrollment cliff, we need to be prepared to refute that data.
Is your school or program seeing a decrease in students? Clearly, this is not the case overall, but let us know at union@ura-aft.org so we are aware of programs which might be suffering a decrease in students.
Bunsis, a Wharton School trained accounting professor and AAUP leader analyzed Rutgers finances and delivered the June 2, “Open the Books” presentation in conjunction with the Coalition of Rutgers Union (CRU).
Rutgers made several bold claims in audit reports and credit rating reports that Dr. Bunsis easily debunked. The first report back showed that Rutgers finances remain healthy with federal funding and student aid relatively stable. See: Rutgers Has The Money: Debunking Management Claims Part 1 (June 12, 2026).
Our next report back from Bunsis’ analysis will focus on international students.
