From polycrisis to synergistic stress to persistent disruption, there is no shortage of frameworks for thinking about this time in higher education. What you have to do with it is another question—one that doesn’t have clear answers. But as economic, demographic, political and technological forces reshape the field, presidents are experimenting, including with approaches that blur traditional lines between types of institutions, and between college and work.
“Necessity is the mother of invention,” said Kevin Doyle, president and CEO of Hazelden Betty Ford Graduate School, which now offers an alternative to students without a bachelor’s degree, based on a rigorous set of credits for prior learning requirements (CPL). “The time is clearly ripe for innovation, not just because of the state of federal policy but also economic pressures, industry needs, uncertainty about the impact of AI on the workforce, and the proliferation of online learning options.”
Risk and innovation were two themes within Within Higher Ed2026 Survey of College and University Presidents by Hanover Research. While presidents (N=430) identified financial instability (45 percent) and political interference (43 percent) as the fastest-growing risks facing their institutions, they also described a volatile, dynamic sector. Looking ahead to 2030, almost half of presidents (48 percent) said AI will have the greatest impact on higher education, while 45 percent point to costs and pressures on the financial model—with presidents of private non-profit institutions particularly concerned about the latter. At the same time, almost all the presidents and their institutions are changing their educational models in some way: Seven out of ten are considering adding or expanding short-term credentials that are relevant to the needs of the employer in the next three years, six out of ten are exploring systematic basic methods and more than three each are pursuing courses based on vocational training, three-year study degrees and other integrated courses.
Institutions of all kinds are exploring new forms: Regarding three-year graduate degrees, for example, 18 percent of community college presidents expressed interest, as did 46 percent of those at baccalaureate/masters level institutions, 54 percent at public doctoral schools, 40 percent at private for-profit institutions and 47 percent at private/non-profit institutions. At least 70 institutions already offer or are considering three-year degrees, according to recent estimates. Just last month, the University of North Carolina System announced that it was looking to add 90 credit degrees to its portfolio.
“There’s a lot to think about, but if we get this right, we can reduce debt, meet critical workforce needs, and preserve the intellectual breadth that defines the System’s undergraduate programs,” Dan Harrison, UNC’s vice president for academic affairs and senior adviser to the president, said in a social media statement. The leaders of the public colleges in this province have since signed that they want to be part of the negotiations, according to the report Council.
In another experimental example, some four-year colleges—not just community colleges, the traditional workforce of higher education—qualified for the latest round of federal grants for part-time programs eligible for the new Workforce Pell program.
Extended transfer methods and CPL—both student success advocates have long called for—are playing out nationally, according to research, and so is strengths-based education.
Blurred lines
Doyle said Hazelden Betty Ford has opened up an alternative way to get a degree after years of firing staff members who didn’t have traditional degrees—many of whom were in recovery and showed a clear passion for the substance abuse counseling profession.
A bachelor’s degree “may be the most common way to demonstrate readiness for graduate work,” he said, but “it shouldn’t be the only way. This was all in the context of pressing needs for workers in the community and mental health treatment, too.”
Rethinking long-held practices and assumptions is evident in the growing overlap between education and workforce development—something Jobs for the Future (JFF) has dubbed “The Big Blur,” and its AI-era iteration, “The Big Blur 2.0.” In a recent call for action, the JFF said AI is “compressing the time between skill development and obsolescence,” fundamentally undermining the “learn first, work later” sequence of educational programs. Urging leaders in higher education and beyond to “move to an innovation where work-integrated learning is the default,” JFF said adaptability, long-lasting skills and applied skills are becoming “the real currency of opportunity.”
Maria Flynn, president and CEO of JFF, said Within Higher Ed“We’re seeing colleges explore real structural changes: rethinking credit burdens, evaluating skills beyond credit hour limits and using a thoughtful combination of AI and human support to train students for jobs.”
But that innovation must extend to how employers work together, he said, not just as consultants, but as designers. “There has never been a better time to change the model of higher education to learning outcomes.”
At the National Apprenticeship Center at Reach University, executive director Holly Smith said interest in apprenticeships—by definition work-related—has grown over the past year.
“It’s not just community college staff directors anymore,” he added. “Now we’re hearing from representatives and presidents at four-year institutions, including our major college programs, who are facing pressures on enrollment and outcomes and asking how this model fits into their strategic direction.”
Asked for his thoughts on the big blur, Smith said, “This is a fundamental issue of higher education. The degree is not being changed or reduced. It is being renewed and redesigned to meet the working adults where they are, and the career from a supplement to something that is integrated with the degree from the beginning.”
Even leaders of liberal arts institutions that serve middle-aged students see the urgency of work-based learning. Hendrix College, for example, recently launched Via Hendrix, described as a collaborative initiative that will provide all undergraduates with a semester-long experience integrated into the curriculum.
Employers need a clear pipeline of talent, while students and families “need a clear, visible connection between their investment in education and life after college,” said Karen K. Petersen, president of Hendrix. “This period of historic change in the economy, markets and workforce—driven in particular by artificial intelligence—puts students under enormous new pressure.”
This presents opportunities, not a dilution of the liberal arts, Petersen asserted, as students “will need special flexibility, experience and resilience, which provides a distinct advantage to liberal arts graduates given the skills we cultivate.”
Union College in New York is pursuing talks with local community colleges to make it easier for prospective four-year students who are concerned about affordability to stay there. “Union, with our small classes, personal attention and opportunities to do graduate research, study abroad and internships, is a great choice for these students,” he said. Elizabeth Kiss, president. “But we didn’t make it easy for them to find us or talk about how we want them and accept them.” The Union is simultaneously doubling down on post-graduation options, including a 4+1 style master’s degree in collaboration with the University of Rochester’s Simon Business School, and introducing smaller details so that the Union’s students can demonstrate their skills to prospective employers.
Risk and Reward
Other institutions are moving forward in untapped areas THERE survey. Twelve states have authorized their community colleges to offer baccalaureate degrees. On the other hand, many four-year institutions have opened their own two-year colleges.
Susan Burns, president of Mount Saint Vincent University, described Seton College—the institution’s two-year-old approach—as part of an enrollment strategy and mission fulfillment.
“This degree approach and design aligns clearly and deeply with our mission and the institution’s commitment to serving our beneficiaries,” she said. In addition to Seton College, the institution also introduces the College of Technology and Commerce, which has affiliations with film production studios and trade and medical certificate schools.
Burns sees a “certain blurring” occurring throughout higher education, though he described the change as uneven. The more selective, affluent institutions seem committed to preserving traditional models, and will continue to provide that “luxury product” to affluent students and a limited number of others through financial aid packages, he said. Otherwise traditional institutions appear to be “playing on the edge of innovation, but unwilling or unable to significantly change their design or operating model so that those small innovations can focus on meaningful growth,” and will likely continue to struggle.
Still, Burns said experimentation is possible at most institutions, as long as they have board support, intellectual buy-in, offerings that make sense for their market and location, and enough financial stability to take the risk.
That last situation may be increasingly difficult: While more than eight in 10 presidents remain confident in their agency’s three- and five-year fiscal outlook, according to the survey, confidence in the 10-year outlook has declined year over year, from 83 percent to 70 percent. Many presidents are also shortening their planning horizons accordingly.
However, not taking risks may be the most dangerous step of all.
Flynn, of JFF, said that if “colleges can position themselves as lifelong learning partners—institutions that help people develop skills, retrain and restart their careers for life—the opportunities for future growth are real.”
Doyle, of Hazelden Betty Ford, said, “Everything needs to be on the table for review and consideration.
