I have a few special interests; one of them is the educational system. I’m particularly intrigued by higher education. When you add my schooling, career stops as a representative in higher education at the collegiate level and raising two sons, one of whom will be graduating from NC State University in the spring of 2026, you have total exposure within the educational system of more than 40 years. I’ve researched educational concerns and trends, both present and future, and have educated myself about as much as one can, not currently working in the system. Fortunately, my son, Dusty, also shares my interest in this area and has studied it intensively. We work on projects related to this field together. That’s how we first came to realize it was facing such calamity.

For the sake of brevity, I’ll focus specifically on higher education. The idea of acquiring advanced learning through a “traditional” college degree does not go away, but will begin to transition and morph into something new within just a few short years. Several factors historically led to this phenomenon, including declining birth rates (not enough high school seniors applying for college), cuts to state and federal student aid, and a well-intentioned student loan program designed to help more students afford college; which was not carefully regulated, allowing banks to loan higher and higher amounts without sufficient limits. This led to some colleges and universities gaming the system and increasing tuition, fees and living expenses threefold over the last four decades, thus inflating the overall costs to the point that fewer and fewer families can afford this option. The younger generation has seen the result, and their interest and incentive to take this path is enthusiastically diverting to other more affordable and effective options. Kudos to them for being fiscally responsible. 

There’s also the inevitable paradigm shift in employers’ acceptable education credentials. Even today, traditional degrees are complemented by micro-credentials, certificates and digital badges. They compete with concentrated, certified programs focused on specific fields of expertise and are designed by leading experts and entities within the industry. Some of these specialized programs are on-site training, while many others are online. 

Next, there’s the colossal rise in online programs. I still remember a time when colleges and universities did not appreciate these programs in the manner they should have. I can count on one hand how many total online degree programs were offered nationally at the time. I thought it was foolish then for institutions to overlook this tremendous opportunity when I was involved 30 years ago, and I think, as a result, many are behind in where they could be with this learning methodology today. This unfortunate miscalculation by some, however, will be nullified by another factor that will change education – online, hybrid and in-person – sooner rather than later. I’m speaking of artificial intelligence. What AI can do for online programs alone is nearly beyond imagination. Fortunately, we won’t have to wait long to see its impact. 

Thomas Friedman, political commentator, author, three-time Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times columnist, recently said on PBS’s Washington Week, “We are on the eve of the greatest technological revolution in human history. We are very close to birthing a new species, not a new machine, a new artificially intelligent species. It is not going to change one thing. It’s going to change everything.”

There you have it. Whether it’s rising tuition and fees for colleges and universities deterring potential applicants; a shift in the “industry standards of acceptance” for a more diverse set of education credentials; new, more abundant, specialized training/certification programs; plentiful, enhanced online degrees; and/or whatever AI has in store for our future; higher education, as we know it, is about to change dramatically. For those institutions not prepared for this pioneering reform, they’ll likely suffer a decline in enrollments (many already have) and perhaps even shut their doors completely (we see evidence of this happening today). They’ll become more reliant on international students who pay full price tuition, reduce the number of programs offered and be nudged, at the very least, to enter the world of providing online learning opportunities. I anticipate they’ll add many more “adult learners” to the applicant pool for degrees, certificates, digital badges (and whatever new name they give to digital learning) and, equally important, innovative “continuous lifetime learning” options for adults while developing creative, neoteric corporate partnerships in learning.

This is the new tapestry of higher education; we see some of this already taking place. For institutions that are open minded and prepare strategically, the future is bright. For students of all ages, exciting new opportunities are on the horizon. The doors of higher education are about to open to a much broader audience. Initially, for the sake of the institutions’ survival, fortuitously, the students benefit remarkably as well. To that, I say, it’s about time. 

“So, if you’re tired of the same old story. Turn some pages…roll with the changes.” ~ REO Speedwagon

Musical Selection: REO Speedwagon – Roll With the Changes (Black and White Version)

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