This progression of America towards a throw-away society drastically altered employment prospects in the electronics service sector. For example, according to the Professional Service Association, the number of TV repair shops fell from 20,000 in 1992 to 9,000 in 2002 and to around 7,000 by 2007. From 2011 to 2016, the average annual growth rate of the electronics and computer repair services industry was -1.0%. The concomitant effect, for NRI Schools, was a sharp decline in enrollment. However, many of NRI's competitors in the home-study business (see below) survived these turbulent times by greatly diversifying their academic offerings to include non-technical training coursers more relevant to contemporary society.