As online retail has disrupted brick-and-mortar stores over the past couple decades, analyAs online retail has disrupted brick-and-mortar stores over the past couple decades, analysts have realized that stores in the United States are overbuilt for demand.

American higher education is facing a similar problem. As the number of high school seniors has plateaued and even declined in certain regions, campuses in the United States appear overbuilt for demand—and that’s before taking into account the disruptive impact online learning may have on education in the medium-to-long term.

According to the Boston Globe, there are 23.5 square feet of retail per person in the United States today—four times as much as in Britain. Stores are increasingly shrinking, as retailers realize “they can sell the same amount in about half the space,” Rick Stein, a planner and founder of the Urban Decision Group in Columbus, Ohio told the Globe.sts have realized that stores in the United States are overbuilt for demand.