2026, The Decade Ahead: The Seismic Shifts Transforming the Future of Higher Education

2026, The Decade Ahead, divided into three sections, provides a picture of changes ahead for higher education over the next ten years. Section one examines the demographic changes coming to campuses. It points out that the supply-demand problem will be particularly acute in the Northeast and Midwest, which are home to a greater concentration of institutions and are projected to produce fewer high school graduates over the next decade. And with respect to the remaining pool of potential students, colleges and universities will need to create more pipelines to and through college than the one that exists today largely to better serve students who will be coming from a variety of backgrounds. Section two addresses the academic workforce. The report suggests that it is highly unlikely higher education will return to the days when the majority of professors were full-time and tenured, so new faculty models are sure to materialize in the coming decade. Several models are suggested. Section three lays out numerous potential learning paths that students might follow from competency-based education to lifelong learning. 2026, The Decade Ahead is well researched, referencing supporting evidence and further readings.

Citation: Selingo, Jeffrey J. 2026, The Decade Ahead: The Seismic Shifts Transforming the Future of Higher Education. Washington, D.C.: The Chronicle of Higher Education, 2016.