The higher education world is grappling with a challenge it's seen coming for years: The so-called “demographic cliff.” That’s when the number of high school graduates, and therefore future college students, begins to decline. It’s projected to begin as soon as next year, and is thanks, in part, to the birth rate in the U.S, which has been falling for nearly two decades.

That looming cliff could add to other factors already putting many colleges and universities under increasing financial pressure: Students have access to more online degrees, young people are looking at job opportunities that don’t require college degrees, and the Trump administration’s immigration policies are keeping international students away.

One way some schools are coping is by closing smaller satellite campuses, often far from a school’s central location. The hope? That a smaller physical footprint can help save some cash and allow schools to better focus their resources.

Troy University has operated a satellite campus in Phenix City, Alabama, for the last 50 years. It’s 85 miles away from the university’s main campus in Troy, Alabama. The school once had well over 2,000 students, according to Kerry Palmer, Troy’s senior vice chancellor and provost.

“It was a very robust operation, and the target audience was the non-traditional student,” Palmer said.

In its mid-1990s heyday, Palmer said, the Phenix City campus was a night school where adult students took classes after work. 

“It was convenient in those days to go to class at night when you weren't at work, and now it's convenient to sit in your pajamas at home on your own time and get your studies online.”

Online programs, including some from Troy University itself, started eating into Phenix City’s in-person enrollment in the early 2000s, Palmer said. In the last decade, the campus's student population declined drastically.

“We were spending a tremendous amount of money for building upkeep and just keeping the doors open, staffing, faculty and administration, and we just weren't getting the type of traffic that would justify that expenditure,” he said.

So, earlier this year, Troy’s board voted to close the Phenix City campus at the end of the year.

Several other colleges and universities have recently announced closures of satellite campuses too, though some will remain open for several more years. In May, the board of Penn State voted to close seven of its 20 smaller campuses.

In August, Middlebury College in Vermont announced it will wind down its graduate programs in Monterey, California. A month later, Champlain College, also in Vermont, said it would shutter study abroad campuses in Montreal and Dublin.

While each of these satellites is a bit different, their closures are all happening against the same backdrop in higher education.

“We fundamentally have too many seats and too many classrooms and not enough students,” said Peter Stokes, a managing director at Huron, a consulting group that specializes in higher ed.

For years, college expansions made sense because the student population was booming. It grew about tenfold from 1950 to 2010, peaking at 21 million, Stokes said. That led schools to open satellites and extension programs. But the number of higher ed students has fallen by over 2 million in the last 15 years, he said, leaving some colleges with more space than they need. 

Waning interest has hurt the Middle Institute of International Studies (MIIS) in Monterey, California, the satellite of Vermont’s Middlebury College. The graduate school’s programs largely focus on international relations and language translation. Many alumni have gone on to work in the U.S. State Department, said MIIS’ dean, Jeff Dayton-Johnson.

“There certainly is, I think, a forecast on the part of many potential students that these are jobs which won't be as plentiful in the future,” Dayton-Johnson said.

Enrollment at MIIS was already declining before Trump’s second term, he said. Cuts at the State Department haven’t helped.

“The sad irony of this move is that the world, I would argue, has never needed our graduates more: People who promote intercultural communication, people who promote peace, understanding, a more just world,” Dayton-Johnson said.

The closure could deal a blow to downtown Monterey, where Middlebury occupies 19 buildings. City manager Hans Uslar, however, is optimistic about the property’s future.

“It's a short jump to the beach, it's a short jump to go onto a recreational trail and go on long bike rides,” Uslar said. “So it is an attractive, attractive property that the right developers can pick up.”

Meanwhile, in eastern Alabama, provost Kerry Palmer said Troy University has a potential buyer lined up for its Phenix City campus. And while it shuts down that satellite location, it’s investing in its two others. 

“[In] our experience, the satellite campus is going to need some means by which you draw foot traffic in,” Palmer said.

So, its newest satellite program will be literally hands on: A doctorate degree for chiropractors at its campus in Dothan, Alabama.