1. Expect empty seats.

Many people sought shelter from the recession by heading to graduate school, but enrollment has declined as the economy has improved. The number of first-time masters and doctoral students starting classes on campuses around the country dropped 1.7% in the fall of 2011 from the year before, according to the most recent data from the Council of Graduate Schools, a national organization that advocates for graduate programs. (Applications to law school and full-time two-year M.B.A. programs, not included in the councils data, are also declining. Medical school applications rose slightly last year.)

It was the second consecutive drop in first-time enrollment, following a stretch of annual increases going back to the fall of 2003.While people with advanced degrees generally earn more than the average American, and are less likely to be unemployed, more people are now skeptical about whether those advantages are worth the upfront costs and the growing debt burden.

In 2010, enrollment dropped more significantly at public universities, but that shifted in 2011, when private not-for-profit universities saw the largest declines. When it comes to majors, the biggest drops in 2011 were in education, arts and humanities. Enrollment still grew in health sciences, math and computer science, according to the report.

For some niche schools, a significant drop in enrollment can threaten the future of their programs. Last month, to shore up its finances, the Thunderbird School of Global Management, a global business school, struck a deal to sell its campus to a for-profit college operator. Applications to Thunderbirds two-year full-time M.B.A. had declined over the past several years, in line with industry trends, president Larry Penley says. If we stand still with existing programs, he says, Thunderbird doesnt survive.

2. But youll still be competing with the whole world to get in.

With fewer Americans going to grad school, international students are filling the void. First-time enrollments were up 7.8% for temporary residents or people in the U.S. for the purpose of earning a degree in 2011 from 2010; for U.S. citizens and permanent residents, enrollments were down 2.3%, according to the Council for Graduate Schools. In fact, temporary residents made up 17% of all first-time graduate students in 2011, up from 15.8% in 2010.

Foreign students are mostly flocking to science and engineering majors. They made up 45.5% of engineering grad students in the fall of 2011, 42.4% of mathematics and computer sciences grad students, and 31.9% of physical and earth science students. In contrast, they made up just 3.3% of grad students majoring in education, 4% of grad students studying public administration, and 5.5% of those studying health sciences.

Even international enrollments appear to be tapering off: Preliminary data shows the number of applications coming from prospective international students to U.S. graduate schools grew by only 1% for the fall of 2013, much less than the typical annual growth of rate 9% to 11%, says Debra Stewart, president of the Council of Graduate Schools.

3. Prepare to write a bigger check.

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10 Things Grad Schools Won’t Tell You