Education IT Reporter

As we step into the mid-way point in 2024, the higher education industry is bracing for a wave of transformative changes. Below, several experts from higher education tech company Modern Campus collectively paint a future where traditional educational models are rapidly evolving. The burgeoning adoption of microcredentials promises a more flexible and competency-based learning landscape, tailored to meet the ever-changing needs of the workforce. Higher education institutions are expected to pivot significantly, focusing more on aligning their offerings with industry requirements and enhancing the overall student experience.

Peter DeVries, CEO

• AI will continue to be a hot topic with a disconnect between the institution’s hesitancy and intent to drive efficiency versus student’s usage whenever an opportunity exists.
• Microcredentials and stackable credentials will continue to be held up as a key area of innovation with slow demonstration of how it can be readily utilized by students due to institution inertia.
• Students will continue to look for institutions that provide a modern engagement experience with personalization and value add services available seamlessly through online services.

Amrit Ahluwalia, Senior Director of Strategic Insights

• Microcredential adoption will continue to accelerate: More colleges and universities will offer a wider range of microcredentials to provide alternatives for people to engage in meaningful learning without forcing them to enroll in a full degree program. This will also drive increased adoption of competency-based learning models.
• Higher ed will align more closely with the workforce: Colleges and universities will work to align offerings more closely to workforce needs, creating pathways for adults to engage in professional development to keep pace with industry changes while also streamlining the learner-to-earner pathway for degree-seeking students.
• Colleges and universities will prioritize the student experience: To stem growing stop-out and drop-out numbers, higher ed institutions will begin to invest in mechanisms to improve student belonging and communication and will look for approaches to accelerate degree completion.
• IT leaders will play a more strategic role: Historically, institutional IT leaders have played a largely operational role. But as technology plays an increasingly central role in the management of the modern postsecondary institution, these leaders will be asked to have a larger influence on the strategy and direction of their respective institutions. This will have a significant impact on higher education’s approach to customer/student engagement, leveraging/securing data, and software management.
• Institutional IT leaders will be looking to address the “Digital Jungle” of software and vendors operating on their campuses. During the pandemic, colleges invested in massive numbers of disconnected and overlapping technology tools to deliver on specific needs through a challenging time. But now that we’re on the other side, CIOs and CISOs will be looking for ways to reduce the risk associated with having so many tech vendors operating simultaneously on campus, improving data security and simplifying the institutional tech infrastructure.

Keith Renneker, VP Sales for Modern Campus Connected Curriculum and Modern Campus CMS

• AI will continue to be a hot button topic – how to leverage in education delivery, impact on research, recruitment and engagement of students – essentially the whole education ecosystem.
• Financial survival – while some schools have been able to thrive, others continue to struggle, with Birmingham Southern the most recent example of a school trying to avoid closure.  What will be the impact on affordability for students?  Will campuses close or merge?  Budget scrutiny will continue to slow and formalize more procurement processes.
• A more politicized environment with government seemingly more engaged from the K-12 environment into higher ed – a leading example is loan forgiveness. Schools will be challenged with strong public views on political topics, creating risks for schools and including impact to donors.
• Greater efforts on campuses for increased efficiency – platform solutions vs multi-vendor.  Continued call for services – for school and students.  Modernizing the experience for the learner.  Stronger tools to integrate different campus solutions from different providers.

David Cashwell, VP Sales for Modern Campus Lifelong Learning

• More centralization of CE programs in universities.  For example, School of Education, School of Business, etc.  They are sharing resources more, and that includes software.
• Defining microcredential quality standards – this has become a more important issue with the American Council of Education, who oversees accreditation.
• The Definition of FTE has become problematic because such a high percentage of full-time students are on financial aid and many “part time” students are paying in full. The question remains as to whether Pell dollars will be usable for students seeking a short-term job training program.
• The higher ed institutions that are not well-endowed and who struggle with enrollments will be more deliberate about creating career pathways for their students. This will not be an issue for the most prestigious R1 universities who have 20% and below acceptance rates.
• Institutions will be more focused on programs and marketing that focus on the stop out population through degree and non-degree programs. They will look to these populations as a supplement to the shortage in traditional demographics.
• CIOs will continue to prefer purpose-built platforms that will play nicely within ecosystems. This shift in purpose-built solutions will be great for those that provide them assuming they can seamlessly integrate into “main campus” systems.
• LMS providers will continue their momentum on combining with other solutions or building extensions of their LMS systems (see Instructure, Anthology (bB) and D2L). This will allow them to differentiate from each other outside of traditional “bake off” differentiators.
• Institutions will continue to tighten up their security requirements. Universities have no regulations so it’s a big chance for cybersecurity in organizations.

Andy Gould, VP Sales for Modern Campus Student Engagement Suite

• Retention efforts/funding will redirect to enrollment support in the face of continued enrollment decline, which will put effective student engagement at further risk.
• Students will continue to demand more mobile-focused, interconnected, and personalized technologies be a part of their experience.
• Soft skill development/articulation demand will increase as employers reduce forces, putting pressure on recruiting high quality new graduates.
• Academic support will receive increased pressure and existing technologies are in need of modernization. Products like TEDU will see quick adoption.
• Centralized student platforms like Pathify will gain increased traction as institutions and students alike face technology overload and more demand for a personalized experience.

Chad Rowe, VP Product for Modern Campus Lifelong Learning

• Continuation of the rise and adoption of alternative credentials including digital badges.
• Tighter integration of CE focused student information systems with customer relationship management systems to promote student engagement throughout their journey and lifetime.
• Adoption of new tools and integration connectors to improve the student experience; tighter integrations between the CE-focused student information systems and the main campus SIS for more engaging catalog display.
• Cautious exploration of AI use cases in the administration, reporting and predictive analytics or CE programs.

Kim Prieto, SVP Product

• As enrollments continue to decline, and budgets are stretched, institutions will work to meet students where they are at:
  • Continued and growing focus on micro-credentialing
  • Support of online and hybrid programs
  • Communicating clear paths to post school employment
• As the costs of education rises, community colleges will see higher growth than 4-year institutions, increasing the need for clear and easy transfer paths.
• Campuses will look to gain efficiencies in their vendor management – looking more for platform vendors who can fulfill multiple needs.

From the accelerated adoption of microcredentials to the strategic role of IT leaders, and from the integration of AI to the focus on student engagement, these changes reflect a broader shift in educational priorities and methodologies. Higher education institutions must adapt to these changes, balancing innovation with the enduring values of accessibility and quality education. In doing so, they will not only meet the evolving needs of students and the workforce but also lead the way in shaping a future where education is more adaptable, inclusive, and aligned with the ever-changing global landscape.