The Future of Higher Education

Higher education conversations about the future often stay at a high level. But for institutions, the challenge is not just understanding what’s coming. It is deciding how to respond. In this webinar, we take a longer-range view of higher education, asking what the landscape could look like in 2050–2060 and what that means for institutions today. We’ll examine the major forces already shaping this future, including AI, technological infrastructure, climate change and migration patterns, shifting student demographics, robotics, and widening economic inequality. Rather than treating these as distant scenarios, this session will connect long-term change to near-term decisions. Participants will leave with a clearer way to think about emerging signals, identify which forces are most relevant to their context, and begin shaping a more proactive institutional response. Panelists: Bryan Alexander - Futurist & Senior Scholar / Georgetown University Paul LeBlanc - Visiting Scholar & Special Advisor / Harvard Graduate School of Education [Facilitator] Carrie O'Donnell - Founder / Alchemy