The problem with this thread, the OP’s several assertions, and this point above is that they all are proclaimed as if they were facts, when, without any sort of proof, all they are is opinions.
I am happy to be educated if someone can produce a decent study comparing the decline of LACs (the OP mentions SLACs, the S is sometimes meant as “selective”) vs large schools. But until then, I cannot go along with the idea that schools with sub 10% admit rates are somehow in decline, or that prospective students are less interested in them. (Those schools were mentioned upthread by the OP, arguing that since Ivy admit rates were lower still that was proof those LACs were in decline).