AI and the Opportunities Ahead of Us
For too long, high-quality, personalized and career-aligned education has been out of reach for many, limited by cost and accessibility. But today, rapidly emerging technologies present a transformative opportunity. AI has the power to make learning more affordable, flexible and tailored to individual needs, providing everyone with the means to achieve economic and personal fulfillment.
By leveraging these technologies, we can reach populations traditionally underserved by higher education, such as those in low-resilience jobs who may struggle to see themselves as learners.
This moment is also a catalyst for broader innovation. Through applied research, scalable solutions and shared insights, we can accelerate sector-wide progress. By treating these advancements as public goods, we can ensure the benefits of AI-powered education are accessible to all, driving greater opportunity and equity across the learning landscape.
College pays off — but at what cost?
Interest and confidence in postsecondary education have been declining for years. Now, nearly one-third of U.S. adults say they have very little or no confidence in higher education. Only 22% say the cost of getting a four-year college degree today is worth it if the student has to take out loans.
This waning confidence is reflected in years-long declining enrollment rates. Even before the demographic cliff — set to hit at the end of this school year — colleges and universities had already experienced a 15% decline in enrollment between 2010 and 2021, the most recent year for which National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) data is available.
And it’s no wonder why. Median income has not kept pace with high inflation, rapidly rising housing costs and skyrocketing tuition rates, causing millions of student loan borrowers in the U.S. to delay key personal and financial milestones.
On top of the economic strain the process of obtaining a degree can impose, both graduates and employers have questioned how well it truly prepares individuals for the workforce. One in five graduates say their college didn’t provide them with needed job skills, and a whopping 40% of recent college graduates in the U.S. are underemployed. Just 62% of employers believe that most or all college graduates possess the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in entry-level positions. And 87% of executives say their organization has a skills gap.
Still, getting a degree almost always pays off. Economic data clearly show a widening wage gap between high school graduates and college graduates. Most post-secondary degrees provide a payoff within less than five years after graduation for low- and moderate-income students. College-educated workers are also much more likely to have access to other benefits like healthcare, retirement savings plans, paid sick and family leave, and flexible work options.
But achieving a degree — and the career pathways that come with one — shouldn’t be this prohibitive.
The time for transformation is now
For decades, we’ve known what works well for learners. Learner-centered design approaches such as backward design, universal design for learning and competency-based education, as well as ensuring accessibility and promoting a sense of belonging, can all help remove barriers to access, enhance course quality and improve learning outcomes. Likewise, rigorous research and field-tested pilots can ensure the efficacy of new products before mass market.
Additionally, students themselves have made it clear what they want from higher education: efficient, flexible delivery, personalized learning and support and stronger alignment with the workforce — all at a cost that won’t leave them drowning in debt for decades.
It sounds too good to be true. And for most of the history of higher education, it has been. Many of these efforts were too time- and resource-intensive to widely implement in the past. But with advances in technology like AI, we finally have the opportunity to scale what works: learner-centered design rooted in applied research and rapid user testing.
As faith in traditional higher education declines and emerging technology continues to push boundaries across industries, there’s never been a better time to reimagine postsecondary education as we know it.
Our vision for the future of learning
At WGU Labs, the research, development and investment arm of Western Governors University (WGU), we’re embarking on an ambitious agenda to redesign the higher education system to improve learning outcomes and create more pathways to opportunity for everyone. We’ve identified the following pillars as critical to a brighter future of learning:
- Effective Personalized Learning: To deliver education that adapts to life’s complexities, we must design a more personalized learning experience that includes better feedback, authentic and equitable assessments, efficiency of learning and the explicit teaching of higher-order skills.
- Holistic Support Systems: To ensure learning experiences adapt to student needs, we need differentiated and adaptable support models that increase motivation and identification with learning, accommodate learning preferences and provide navigational assistance.
- Workforce-Aligned Benefit and Value: To prepare talent to seize career opportunities, the learning experience must provide value aligned to the workforce today and into the future. Advanced technology like learning and employment records (LERs), machine learning, and large language models (LLMs) can help facilitate higher-quality career exploration, relevant skill building and improved connections between the learning experience and employers’ expectations.
- Lower Cost of Delivery: The higher education sector, with a workforce of 3.9 million and annual spending of $700B, sees students spend $120,000, on average, to complete a degree at an in-state, traditional four-year institution. To broaden access to postsecondary education and make lifelong learning a norm, we need to cut costs and utilize AI to improve efficiency and scale, making education more affordable and accessible for all.
By leveraging cutting-edge research informed by data from diverse institutions, piloting innovative educational solutions, sharing our learnings with our peers and investing in promising solutions, we believe we can build a more impactful educational system.
Building with intention
The challenges facing higher education are clear, but so are the opportunities. AI and emerging technologies give us the tools to transform learning experiences, making them more personalized, accessible and aligned with workforce needs. At WGU Labs, we are committed to driving this transformation by advancing research, developing scalable solutions, and collaborating with partners across the sector.
The future of higher education is not just something we predict — it’s something we build. This is our moment to reimagine what higher education can be: a system that empowers every learner to thrive, no matter their background or circumstances. By embracing innovation, sharing insights, and prioritizing intentional design, we can create an education landscape that truly serves all learners.
