Students have become a scarce resource. Can schools use TikTok to combat the demographic cliff?

In the world of academia, a demographic cliff is looming, and TikTok might be the most reliable safety net for the schools teetering on the brink. As the total student pool dwindles, academic institutions are increasing their marketing budgets to convince potential pupils to enroll with them — and a lot of the resulting campaigns are being distributed across teens’ favorite social media feeds.

The phrase “demographic cliff” refers to a sharp decline in U.S. birthrates that coincided with the onset of the 2008 financial crisis. Birthrates have not fully recovered in the 18 years since, so schools are facing a new reality: Students, who were previously an abundant resource, are becoming scarcer with each passing year.

One broad solution for that problem involves the creator economy. Today’s young people have a new dream job, so schools — especially those in the higher ed world — are rolling out new curricula to teach the artistic, economic, and social skills that underpin the creator career.

That approach works best for colleges and universities, but high schools have developed their own social media strategies. An increasing number of institutions are launching campaigns on TikTok. Some of those advertisers, like the New York City charter school chain Success Academy, have reached thousands of followers while collecting hundreds of thousands of likes.

The logic behind those campaigns is fairly simple: Gen Z already uses TikTok for recommendations related to beauty, books, and bank accounts, so why wouldn’t they trust the same process for their educational choices? It makes sense that teenagers would peruse TikTok for schools in the same way they search for academic scholarships.

Beyond TikTok, schools are also running ads on podcasts and streaming services. “The big shift here is from a surplus of kids to a scarcity,”  said Aaron Pallas, a sociology and education professor at Teachers College at Columbia University, in an interview with The New York Times. “I think there also is a logic in trying to advertise and recruit kids in ways that can slow down that process.”

Schools have been active on social media for years, and the current environment will continue to feed that trend. At the same time, traditional trades are making their own pitch to young people. Platforms like TikTok have the potential to combat the demographic cliff, but they also remind teens just how many different options they have.