Inspired by the generation of students who will entering college ten years from now, we've identified future states that will define tomorrow's higher education.

1. Predictions for
What’s Next
Emerging trends shaping the future of higher ed

2. HIGHER ED
LANDSCAPE
2 018
The

3. HIGHER
EDUCATION
IN THE U.S.
Everybody agrees
it’s the best.

4. HIGHER
EDUCATION
IN THE U.S.
Everybody agrees
it’s the best.
55% of Americans say college
has a positive effect on the way
things are going in this country.
Pew Research Center

5. Everybody agrees
it has problems.

6. Everybody knows
it has problems.
HIGHER
EDUCATION
IN THE U.S.
When asked how much confidence
they had in colleges and
universities, 56% of Americans
said “some” or “very little.”
Gallup Poll

7. Big and
bureaucratic

8. Big and
bureaucratic
Inaccessible

9. Big and
bureaucratic
Inaccessible
Lacking innovation
and creativity

10. Big and
bureaucratic
Inaccessible
Lacking innovation
and creativity
Inflexible

11. Big and
bureaucratic
Inaccessible
Lacking innovation
and creativity
Inflexible
Slow to change

12. Oh, and it costs too much.

13. Something needs to change.

14. THE BIG IDEA

15. For higher ed to adapt,
it must shift from
INSTITUTIONAL
THINKING

16. Individual
Mindset
For higher ed to adapt,
it must shift from
INSTITUTIONAL
THINKING
to an

17. To remain relevant
and thrive in the next
decade and beyond,
institutions
must focus on
the individual.

18. INSTITUTION IN
Thinking from the
is rooted in history
and tradition.

19. INDIVIDUAL OUT.
We must begin to think from the

20. But it won’t start with today’s student.
That thinking
needs to startNOW.

21. The students of
2028 will exist in a
With fundamentally
different values:
future
State.
• Distrust of Institutions
• Belief in themselves
• Trust in Individuals

22. Our future
students will:
Be nonlinear thinkers
Be dot-connectors
Expect customization
and personalization

23. We’ve already shifted this
thinking in other industries.

24. PhotographyShoppingEntertainment

25. And it happened by
anticipating not only the technological shifts, but also the
cultural, economic,
and political ones.

26. HIGHER ED
LANDSCAPE
2 0 2 8
The

27. The Radical
Customization
of Curriculum
F U T U R E S TAT E O N E

28. It’s the wrong debate.
STEM vs. Liberal Arts

29. Everybody knows
it has problems.
HIGHER
EDUCATION
IN THE U.S.
“The most valuable combinations of
skills are going to be people who
have training in computer science and
know how machines work, but also
understand the needs of society.”
Avi Goldfarb
University of Toronto

30. Degrees that integrate
STEM and liberal arts
Human-Centered Computing
Digital Humanities
and Social Sciences

31. Engineering in the Core Liberal Arts Curriculum

32. The Death of the Major?

33. “It’s time to end college
majors as we know them.”
Jeffrey Selingo
The Chronicle of Higher Education

34. More than half of 90,000 people
surveyed said they’d change their
major or degree if they had to do
it all over again.
Gallup and Strada Education Network

35. Clear Career
Pathways
9 majors
15 minors
One grad program
Sociology and political science

36. Embracing the Undecided
student
• eliminating the stigma
• offering online counseling
before enrollment
• targeting liberal arts prospects

37. The Democratization
of Experience
2F U T U R E S TAT E T W O

38. From Laramie, Wyoming,
to Athens...
Study abroad can create life-changing experiences.

39. But so can study across.
From Laramie, Wyoming,
to Athens, Georgia.

40. Reality-Based Education

41. 70–80% of students
are Pell Grant eligible
Required to work
10–15 hours per week
Must wear business casual attire

42. 11,095
co-op placements in 2016–17
(up from 6,301 in 2006–07)

43. Every Voice at Every Table

44. Time’s Up
School shooting protests
Campus sexual assault
Increasing political polarization
Growing racial tensions

45. Political and civic
engagement have
reached their highest
levels in 50 years.
More students than ever
expect to participate in
student protests while
in college.
UCLA’s CIRP Freshman Survey

46. Mizzou hunger strikes
in protest of racial bias

47. Mizzou hunger strikes
in protest of racial bias
President fired

48. UC Berkeley students protest
Milo Yiannopoulous

49. Canceled event; sparked
national conversation
UC Berkeley students protest
Milo Yiannopoulous

50. Stoneman Douglas students
organize a die-in at Publix

51. Publix suspended donations to
NRA-supporting Adam Putnam
Stoneman Douglas students
organize a die-in at Publix

52. Entirely New
Collaborations
3
F U T U R E S TAT E T H R E E

53. Education for the careers
that don’t even exist yet.

54. “Fifty years ago the idea that people
would be social media marketers wasn‘t
even imaginable.”
Avi Goldfarb
University of Toronto

55. PIXAR
UNIVERSITY
APPLE
UNIVERSITY
GOOGLEPLEX
ZAPPOS
INSIGHTS
fine arts and skills training
the “Apple Way”
teaching play and exploration
focus on culture
Businesses have responded with their own forms of education:

56. And with new education partnerships:
+
+
+

57. And those collaborations will only continue to evolve.

58. Direct Access to
Subject Matter Experts

60. The Restructuring
of Tuition
4F U T U R E S TAT E F O U R

61. (Where you pay for what you ”get.”)
Could market-based pricing
come to higher ed?

62. $
67,000
$
150,000
$
33,500
$
53,000
Average starting salary
with engineering degree
After ten years
Average starting salary
with English degree
After ten years
Market-based tuition: An illustration
(But the investment was the same.)

63. HOW WE’LL
GET THERE

64. INSTITUTIONAL
THINKING
INDIVIDUAL
MINDSET
With a shift from
to an

65. Current State:
Rigid, inflexible institutions

66. Future State:
A community of
facilitators and
collaborators

67. Institutional thinking:
Obsesses over rankings

68. Individual mindset:
Values relationships

69. THE FUTURE
STATE OF
HIGHER ED
No longer about a place —
more about a personalized
experience.
Nimble enough to respond
to changes in the market.
Still an institution, but one
that focuses on individuals.

70. Thank you.

71. Questions?