Citing a new study by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, the Chronicle of Higher Education reports that college enrollment dropped this fall for the third year in a row, but by just 1.3 percent. (The past two years went down by 1.5 percent and 1.8 percent.)

Most of that decline was in the for-profit sector, and private nonprofits’ enrollment went up by 1.6 percent.

The drop is not precipitous…but not exactly cheering to colleges and universities, especially since the number of college-age students is declining in some parts of the country (the Chronicle explains) and the biggest drop this year was among older students. Interesting tea leaves, but what do they mean?