Universities are under enormous pressure to adapt to a changing environment but also face the opportunity to innovate and pivot towards new learning and engagement models.
Prof. Martin Betts, CEO and founder of GFCC member HEDx, started the company in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic in a moment when many universities struggled to continue their operations. His goal, following 38 years working in global universities in three continents, was to track trends and assist leaders and organizations in transitioning to new models.
Since then, he conducted over 125 interviews with global leaders working in the sector, published three books, and hosted major conferences around the world. On July 9, he was a guest in the exclusive GFCC Monthly Call, commenting on ongoing shifts in higher education, innovative models already in place, and future opportunities.
The importance of universities as economic growth engines and the transformations in the higher education landscape have been on the GFCC agenda since its foundation. In 2016, the University and Research Leadership Forum began to dive deeper into the toolkits available to universities to engage in innovation, how these tools have evolved, and their impact on the capacity of regions and nations to advance innovation and their economies.
In 2021, the GFCC published three University 4.0 discussion papers assessing drivers of change affecting universities, innovative models, and future opportunities. In 2022, the GFCC report Shift: Universities in Transformation — How COVID-19 Shaped the Universities of the Future captured pandemic-related impacts on higher education and the solutions universities laid hand on to respond to the crisis, exploring long-term implications on university models and identifying the game-changers shaping the future of the sector.
Below is a summary of Prof. Betts’ presentation.
Trends impacting HigherED
Enrollment for on-campus attendance is declining worldwide, a trend notably pronounced in the US but increasingly evident in other regions. In Australia, where HEDx is headquartered, the total number of domestic undergraduate applicants has declined over the past three years for the first time in history.
Additionally, inflexible delivery that results in poor learning experiences and mounting debt from formal qualifications have deterred many students from completing degrees or even enrolling in the first place. Student loan debt in the US alone has soared to $ 1,7 trillion often burdened by prohibitive interest rates compounded by rising inflation.
In contrast, there is a growing demand for online education that is personalized, skills-based, and competency-oriented. Some students are also exploring new markets that offer quality education at lower prices.
In response to these movements, universities have pursued new learning models leveraging advanced technologies, while also seeking cost reductions, new revenue streams and financial stability through partnerships with industries and businesses.
The New Learning Economy
Despite these challenges, Prof. Betts believes universities can harness multiple growth opportunities if they explore emerging markets and adopt new models.
For decades, higher education institutions have predominantly targeted students aged 18 to 21. While demand from this demographic is currently declining, there is an increasing need for lifelong learning among an aging population requiring reskilling in the face of AI and other disruptive technologies that have altered the job landscape and left many workers with outdated skills.
Furthermore, through collaborations with businesses and local governments, some universities have pioneered innovative approaches to enhance engagement and broaden their impact.
Arizona State University, a GFCC member, collaborated with Starbucks to create a college achievement plan offering full sponsorship for the company’s employees to pursue online education anywhere in the US.
Another example is Aston University in the United Kingdom, presided by University and Research Leadership Forum Chairman Prof. Aleksandar Subic. Aston has played a leading role in the creation of the Brantford SciTech Park in the new Birmingham innovation district.
Universities can also play with the possibility of bringing business expertise to their top leadership. The President of the Western Governors University, for instance, Mr. Scott Pulsipher, is the former COO of Amazon Web Services and had never worked in a university prior to his current role.
Prof. Betts believes that universities stand a chance to reinvent themselves to stay relevant in the 21st century. But as highlighted by recent podcast guests who studied case studies of eight new global universities, that will require not only intellectual courage but also entrepreneurial audacity and adaptive leadership.
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