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Colleges and universities across the United States stepped up their recruiting efforts to offset dwindling numbers of high school graduates over the two decades ending in 1999, a study by five leading educational institutions reported Monday. 

That helped schools maintain their academic standards, according to researchers who produced “Trends in College Admission 2000.” 

The report was issued by: the National Association for College Admission Counseling; the Association for Institutional Research; the two organizations behind the SAT — the Educational Testing Service and the College Board; and ACT Inc. 

Similar reports were issued in 1979, 1985 and 1992. 

From 1979-99, the annual number of high school graduates declined by more than 250,000 students to less than 3 million, the new report said, though the decline ended in 1994. Graduation numbers have increased since then and are expected to keep rising. 

Jim Maxey, a senior research scientist with ACT, said schools began marketing themselves more heavily in the 1970s, driven partly by concern they would have to lower academic standards to survive as the pool of students became smaller. 

“The fear was that if they raised standards they would have fewer students,” Maxey said.