In today’s ever-changing educational landscape, Thomas Jefferson University’s record-setting momentum reflects the growing strength of its resilience and competitiveness. This year, the 2025 freshman class is projected to enroll 930 to 950 students, a remarkable 95% increase since 2017 and the largest in the institution’s 201-year history. In addition, undergraduate transfer enrollment is on pace for a 10% increase over last year, while graduate and medical school demand continues to climb, as demonstrated by the record number of applications to Sidney Kimmel Medical College’s incoming 2025 class, 12,033 for 275 seats.
Higher education in America stands at a crossroads.
Demographic shifts, economic pressures, and rising skepticism have converged to challenge long-standing assumptions about the worth of a college degree. Yet, in moments of challenge, there is also great opportunity. As Winston Churchill observed, “Kites rise against the wind, not with it.”
We have a chance to redefine the value that universities provide to society. Along the way, we’ll improve a lot of lives.
Over the past decade, enrollment across U.S. institutions has declined steadily—1.5% per year since 2011—as the number of college-aged students shrinks, tuition costs climb, and many young people question the return on investment. The pandemic only deepened the disruption, accelerating disengagement and prompting more employers to reconsider degree requirements altogether.
It’s no surprise, then, that Gen Z is increasingly exploring alternatives—trades, apprenticeships, boot camps. They’ve earned the nickname the "Toolbelt Generation.” But the response from forward-thinking institutions reminds us that higher education is not obsolete. It’s evolving.
Thomas Jefferson University exemplifies this evolution. With our bold, student-first ethos, we’re creating relevance, access, and lifelong learning. Our Nexus Learning model integrates theory and hands-on experience across disciplines from medicine and architecture to engineering and data science, preparing students for a world that demands agility, collaboration, and innovation.
Equally important is our commitment to affordability and outcomes. Through generous financial aid, three-year pathways, and community college pipelines, we’re reducing barriers and expanding opportunity. The outcomes speak volumes: 98% of graduates are employed, in graduate school, or serving in the military, with average starting salaries of $68,000.
That’s what a modern ROI should look like.
The Jefferson advantage also embraces lifelong learning. With more than 30 online degrees and professional certificate programs, a growing virtual campus, and partnerships with industry leaders like IBM, NASA, and Johnson & Johnson, the university is building a flexible and resilient educational ecosystem, one that meets learners where they are and grows with them as their careers and lives evolve.
This is what the future of higher education demands: value without compromise, access without exclusion, and excellence without judgement.
Jefferson’s example shows us that the future of higher education isn’t about retreating—it’s about reaching. Reaching up with innovation. Reaching out with possibility. And reaching forward with purpose.
The third century of this remarkable institution has only just begun. And it couldn’t have arrived at a more urgent or more promising time.
