March 17, 2026
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Higher education is going through some changes, and according to NPR, some of the biggest ones are yet to come. After 2025’s high school seniors graduate, the number of 18-year-olds in the United States will see a major decline. Many refer to it as a looming cliff—the result of a dwindling birth rate after the Great Recession.
Fewer students are expected to enroll in colleges and universities, which are already facing declining numbers for other reasons. If these institutions fail to stay competitive, they could ultimately be forced to close
State budgets are shrinking, putting pressure on campus resources at a time when investment is critical. Many schools are struggling with outdated buildings and facilities in dire need of upgrades. For prospective students and their families, those first impressions matter—and they can make or break enrollment decisions.
When a prospective student takes a tour of your campus, they already have some ideas about your academics or they probably wouldn’t be there. What they want to see is how they’d fit into your culture. They want to picture themselves studying, meeting new people, and hanging out in your lounges and common areas. They want to make sure it’s a space that’s comfortable and where they’ll feel supported.
Neglecting upgrades and modernization can lead to a bad first impression, but most schools don’t have millions of extra dollars lying around to pour into new construction. Luckily, you don’t need to. When you partner with CORT, you can bring your school’s appearance into 2025 and beyond without spending cash you don’t have.
Our Furniture-as-a-Service program allows you to treat furnishings as a flexible service rather than a fixed asset that you can rotate and change quickly as needed, keeping your costs within your operating budget. It also allows you to experiment and pivot your layout as change is needed.
That flexibility becomes even more critical as financial pressures grow. While budgets tighten, standing still isn’t an option—especially when the look and feel of your campus can influence enrollment decisions. In fact, a 2022 survey found that two‑thirds of undergraduates considered campus facilities when choosing a school, focusing less on classrooms and more on gathering and recreational spaces—the very areas that wear down fastest.
The fact is that outdated and poorly maintained interior spaces hurt recruitment and retention at a time when you can’t afford to lose a single student to another school. Not only do these neglected spaces lead to missed opportunities, but they also create hidden costs.
A 2024 report underscores the trend: deferred capital renewal costs on campuses have climbed to over $140 per gross square foot, up 2% from 2023 and a significant jump from just under $125 in 2022. This escalation signals a growing backlog of essential maintenance and upgrades, and it’s only going to rise. The longer you wait to address outdated interiors, the more expensive it becomes. And even when you decide to invest, new furniture and fixtures can take months to arrive.
Furniture rental solves all of these problems. It allows you to be proactive, using your operating budget instead of capital funds and preventing you from having to make these costly renovations down the line.
Furniture rental offers higher education institutions two major advantages when it comes to upgrading and renewing interior spaces: flexibility and affordability. It also allows you to outfit your campus with high-quality, professionally designed furniture without the burdens that come with ownership.
There’s no huge upfront cost for pieces that will depreciate over time. You rent what you need, when you need it, for as long as you need it. It’s also perfect for temporary expansions, swing spaces, and renovations. It shifts furniture from a capital expensive to an operational one so that you can utilize funding for infrastructure and academic funding.
As enrollment and pedagogy shift, furniture rental helps you remain agile. Modular lounge pieces, mobile power, and reconfigurable workstations can be swapped or rescaled each semester as the needs of your student body ebb and flow. What worked as a collaboration space today can easily become a quiet study zone tomorrow.
Beyond flexibility and cost savings, furniture rental delivers another advantage that’s increasingly important: sustainability. Renting furniture that already exists aligns with your sustainability goals and provides measurable ESG benefits.
Rental furniture can survive two to six usage cycles—meaning it can be refurbished and reused multiple times before reaching the end of its life—shrinking the environmental footprint with every refresh. In contrast, buying new furniture consumes more natural resources, generates pollution during manufacturing, and ultimately leaves pieces sitting in landfills for years.
By choosing rental, you make climate-conscious decisions without compromising your budget—and the impact is significant. Renting furniture from CORT saves over 300,000 tons of CO₂ annually compared to competitors who sell new furniture.
By converting furniture from a capital expense into an adaptable service, colleges can refresh the spaces students notice most, sidestep mounting maintenance backlogs, and still keep budgets in check.
Are you ready to modernize without overspending? Contact CORT to design a flexible, sustainable solution that fits this semester’s budget and next year’s vision.
