Parts of higher education are facing existential crises.
While that may sound like hyperbole, there is a growing number of students who are questioning the basic value of a college degree. And this is translating into action. Enrollments are down, and colleges have been forced to permanently shut their doors.
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This is just part of the challenges and opportunities that Deloitte has sought to analyze in their annual Higher Education Trends Report. The 2024 edition, released today and shared exclusively to Fortune addresses five areas of importance for higher education:
- Outcomes and articulating value proposition;
- Crises in leadership;
- College athletics;
- Artificial intelligence (AI); and
- Public-private partnerships.
The overarching theme for all these trends? “The eroding trust in higher education,” says Megan Cluver, principal within Deloitte’s higher education practice.
Shifting from completion to outcomes
Confidence in higher education is falling—down from 57% in 2015 to just 36% in 2023, according to Gallup. And what’s even more telling is research released this year from Strada and The Burning Glass Institute that found that just a little over half (52%) of graduates are underemployed a year after graduation; a decade post-graduation, that number is still 45%.
When coupled with increased tuition, it’s difficult to see the worth of a attending college.
Cole Clark, managing director of Deloitte’s higher education sector, says this rapidly eroding confidence in higher education to prepare students for the true workforce is posing challenges all around.
“Focusing on outcomes is one way to begin to change the narrative on the ROI of a post-secondary degree,” Clark tells Fortune. “For the longest time, the higher education sector was focused on completion, which were suboptimal—in some cases, they still are still suboptimal—but there’s a significant shift from completion now to outcomes, employability.”
The trends report, which he co-authored with Cluver and others, suggests that higher education institutes should prioritize aligning offerings with the demands of the labor market, which will not only help more students land jobs but also provide better returns on investments.
Additionally, universities can expand lifelong learning opportunities through continuing education programs or online degree offerings, the report adds. Moreover, to gain back trust, schools can simply be more transparent with program costs and degree outcomes. For example, the University of North Carolina System studied and published ROI data of all of its programs.
Tackling AI together
AI, and in particular, generative AI continues to be the top of mind of students, faculty, and administrators alike.
Larger, R1 research institutions are very heavily focused on AI, Cluver explains, to not only improve their own university but also the world and society at large. For smaller universities that may not have the resources to dedicate to AI, she expects there to be more partnerships across higher education as well as with third-party providers to tackle AI together.
“I think it’s going to open up a whole new world of educational opportunities that we thought were going to totally disrupt higher education, and now I think we’re gonna see other ways of experimentation,” Clark says.
They both noted Khan Academy and its AI assistant, Khanmigo as a promising example of how AI can be truly integrated effectively into learning and work toward leveling the playing field.
The Deloitte report highlights three key areas of impact in which AI can truly make the world of higher education better, if integrated appropriately: curriculum evolution, enhancing core operations, and streamlining routine tasks. It also encourages schools to train its faculty and staff so they too can apply it to courses and evaluate appropriate and ethical uses.
“Higher education is uniquely suited to serve at this moment by helping to envision a future in which society trusts humans and machines to work together while leveraging the promise of generative AI to make education more accessible and affordable for all,” the report states.
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