Higher education faces ‘deteriorating’ 2026 outlook, Fitch says - Laura Spitalniak, Higher Ed Dive

Fitch Ratings on Thursday issued a “deteriorating” outlook for the higher education sector in 2026, continuing the gloomy prediction the agency issued for 2025. Analysts based their forecast on a shrinking prospective student base, “rising uncertainty related to state and federal support, continued expense escalation and shifting economic conditions.”  With its report, Fitch joins Moody’s Ratings and S&P Global Ratings in predicting a grim year for higher ed — Moody’s for the sector overall and S&P for nonprofit colleges specifically.

https://www.highereddive.com/news/higher-education-faces-deteriorating-2026-outlook-fitch-says/807222/

The state of AI in 2025: Agents, innovation, and transformation - McKinsey

Key findings:

Most organizations are still in the experimentation or piloting phase: Nearly two-thirds of respondents say their organizations have not yet begun scaling AI across the enterprise.

High curiosity in AI agents: Sixty-two percent of survey respondents say their organizations are at least experimenting with AI agents.

Positive leading indicators on impact of AI: Respondents report use-case-level cost and revenue benefits, and 64 percent say that AI is enabling their innovation. However, just 39 percent report EBIT impact at the enterprise level.

High performers use AI to drive growth, innovation, and cost: Eighty percent of respondents say their companies set efficiency as an objective of their AI initiatives, but the companies seeing the most value from AI often set growth or innovation as additional objectives.

Redesigning workflows is a key success factor: Half of those AI high performers intend to use AI to transform their businesses, and most are redesigning workflows.

Differing perspectives on employment impact: Respondents vary in their expectations of AI’s impact on the overall workforce size of their organizations in the coming year

https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/quantumblack/our-insights/the-state-of-ai

As Insta-Gen Z take to microlearning, HEIs are adopting new programme modules - Education Times

The Instagram generation’s preference for short-form learning is reshaping higher education in India and abroad. Recent data shows that short-form and modular learning models are increasingly converging with accredited university programmes. This structural shift is influencing how educational providers design and deliver their programmes.  A study found that 74% of Gen Z students in India prefer online learning. The 2024 Udemy India Report shows that 98% of Gen Z learners spend at least one hour per week learning new skills. Another report, Deloitte’s 2025 Global Generation Z Survey, shared that 94% of respondents favour practical learning over traditional theoretical instruction. Gen Z has redefined how learning happens. It is shorter, faster, and more career-aligned. This generation does not reject degrees; it expects degrees to adapt to its learning habits.

https://www.educationtimes.com/article/campus-beat-college-life/99740331/as-insta-gen-z-take-to-microlearning-heis-are-adopting-new-programme-modules?amp=1

S&P: Negative outlook for nonprofit colleges in 2026 - Ben Unglesbee, Higher Ed Dive

The credit ratings agency — the second to forecast a poor outlook for the sector in the year ahead — pointed to federal policy shifts, rising costs and competition over students. S&P Global Ratings on Tuesday issued a negative 2026 outlook for U.S. nonprofit colleges, with analysts writing that institutions “will struggle to navigate through mounting operating pressures and uncertainty that will require budgetary and programmatic adjustments.” The credit ratings agency pointed to federal policy changes, competition over enrollment, rising costs and financial disruption from new revenue-sharing arrangements with college athletes.  S&P analysts expect weak operating margins at nonprofit colleges as they balance rising costs with revenue pressures. Institutions will continue shutter at higher rates than usual in 2026 as they come under mounting financial struggles, with small, regional private colleges especially vulnerable, the analysts wrote.

https://www.highereddive.com/news/sp-negative-outlook-nonprofit-colleges-2026/806983/

No college degree, no problem? Not so fast - Lawrence Lanahan, Hechinger Report

In recent years, at least 26 states, along with private companies like IBM and Accenture, began stripping degree requirements and focusing hiring practices on applicants’ skills. A job seeker’s market after Covid, plus labor shortages in the public sector, boosted momentum. Seven states showed double-digit percentage increases in job listings without a degree requirement between 2019 and 2024, according to the National Governors Association. A 2022 report from labor analytics firm Burning Glass (recently renamed Lightcast) found degree requirements disappearing from private sector listings too. But less evidence has emerged of employers actually hiring nondegreed job seekers in substantial numbers, and a crumbling economic outlook could stall momentum. Last year, Burning Glass and Harvard Business School found that less than 1 in 700 hires in 2023 benefited from the shift to skills-based hiring. Federal layoffs and other cuts pushing more workers with degrees into the job hunt could tempt employers to return to using the bachelor’s as a filtering mechanism.

https://hechingerreport.org/no-college-degree-no-problem-not-so-fast/

How AI is redefining the COO’s role - McKinsey Podcast

Productivity across sectors is slowing, and labor shortages persist. COOs are in an exceptional position to help their companies address these and other macro trends using AI. From gen AI pilots to automated supply chains, technology is reshaping how operations leaders create efficiencies, build resilience, and encourage teamwork. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, McKinsey Senior Partner Daniel Swan speaks with Editorial Director Roberta Fusaro about how COOs can embed technology, particularly AI, into their company’s culture. It requires balancing the urgency of today with the transformation of tomorrow.

https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/operations/our-insights/how-ai-is-redefining-the-coos-role

The Ivory Tower’s Glass Jaw: How Generative AI Shattered the Illusion of Higher Education Assessment - Maya Perez, Web Pro News

For decades, the modern university has operated on a tacit agreement between faculty and student: the former assigns the essay as a proxy for critical thought, and the latter produces it to demonstrate comprehension. This compact, however, was fraying long before the public release of ChatGPT. The arrival of large language models did not act as a battering ram against a fortified castle of learning; rather, it was the gentle push that toppled a structure already hollowed out by grade inflation, administrative bloat, and a transactional view of credentialing. As academia scrambles to rewrite integrity policies, a deeper, more uncomfortable truth is emerging from the faculty lounge to the dean’s office: the crisis is not technological, but pedagogical.

https://www.webpronews.com/the-ivory-towers-glass-jaw-how-generative-ai-shattered-the-illusion-of-higher-education-assessment/

Restrictive policies manifest in US, Canada enrolment drop - Nathan M Greenfield, University World News

In this year’s Global Enrolment Benchmark Survey (GEBS), American colleges reported a 6% decline in international undergraduates, erasing the 6% increase in the 2024 GEBS. The 19% decline in masters students, by far the largest category of international students in the country, enrolled in the 201 American universities reporting, was more than three times the size of last year’s decline. Canadian numbers can be compared to a snowball going downhill. After last year’s decline of 27% for undergraduates reported in last year’s GEBS, Canadian universities reported a further 36% decline, making a cumulative decline since 2023 of 53%. The 35% decline in international graduate students follows on last year’s reported decline of 30%.

https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20251126133630925

AI is coming for your work, expert warns university staff - Nic Mitchell, University World News

With management consultants predicting that up to one-third of work done today will be automated in the next five years – and universities under pressure to cut costs and do more with less – artificial intelligence offers a cheaper and more efficient way to keep higher education institutions running smoothly, claims an international higher education strategy expert. Instead of trying to fight to protect traditional roles and jobs, Dr Ant Bagshaw, deputy chief executive of the Australian Public Policy Institute in Canberra, Australia, urges universities to embrace the unstoppable march of generative AI and accept that it is “more harmful to keep people in jobs that could be done better by robots”.

https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20251125141312777

The Cambrian Explosion of Micro-Credentials - Bryan Penprase, Forbes

Higher education stands at an inflection point. Traditional four-year degrees often disappoint employers seeking graduates with job-ready skills, and students are eagerly seeking more flexible academic programs requiring less time and money. New micro-credentials offerings from top tech companies and universities are filling this gap – providing modular, flexible, and low-cost alternatives to the traditional college degree. The proliferation of thousands of these new programs around the world has created something of a “Cambrian explosion” of academic programs, analogous to the time in geologic history when billions of new life forms 530 million years ago.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanpenprase/2025/11/28/the-cambrian-explosion-of-micro-credenti/

Morgan State could one day run entirely on AI - Ellie Wolfe, The Banner

Grading assignments. Advising students. Sorting through important files. These tasks, and countless more, might not have to be done by employees at Morgan State University anymore. That’s thanks to Obsidian, a new secure artificial intelligence system created by leaders at the Northeast Baltimore university. “The university will learn from itself,” said Timothy Summers, Morgan State’s vice president for information technology and chief information officer. “It’ll adapt in real time and make smarter decisions at every level.”

https://www.thebanner.com/education/higher-education/morgan-state-university-sovereign-ai-education-ODQGIY4U2VFHBNBKSBVPGDAXP4/

Exploring trust in generative AI for higher education institutions: a systematic literature review focused on educators - Ana Lelescu, et al; Nature

Although Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) offers transformative opportunities for higher education, its adoption by educators remains limited, primarily due to trust concerns. This systematic literature review aims to synthesise peer-reviewed research conducted between 2019 and August 2024 on the factors influencing educators’ trust in GenAI within higher education institutions. Using PRISMA 2020 guidelines, this study identified 37 articles at the intersection of trust factors, technology adoption, and GenAI impact in higher education from educators’ perspectives. Our analysis reveals that existing AI trust frameworks fail to capture the pedagogical and institutional dimensions specific to higher education contexts. We propose a new conceptual model focused on three dimensions affecting educators’ trust: (1) individual factors (demographics, pedagogical beliefs, sense of control, and emotional experience), (2) institutional strategies (leadership support, policies, and training support), and (3) the socio-ethical context of their interaction. Our findings reveal a significant gap in institutional leadership support, whereas professional development and training were the most frequently mentioned strategies. 

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-025-06253-1

A leader’s guide to the future of learning at work - McKinsey

The race to embrace AI in the corporate world means that people at all levels of an organization urgently need to build new tech skills and knowledge. In turn, many companies are accelerating their learning and development programs to help executives and employees keep up with the pace of change. This dynamic landscape presents an opportunity for chief learning officers (CLOs) to reimagine the future of learning in the workplace. This week, we look at how CLOs can help organizations make learning a more fundamental part of the work experience and create cultures of continuous development.

https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/leading-off

The more that people use AI, the more likely they are to overestimate their own abilities - Drew Turney Live Science

 Researchers found that AI flattens the bell curve of a common principle in human psychology, known as the Dunning-Kruger effect, giving us all the illusion of competence. When asked to evaluate how good we are at something, we tend to get that estimation completely wrong. It's a universal human tendency, with the effect seen most strongly in those with lower levels of ability. Called the Dunning-Kruger effect, after the psychologists who first studied it, this phenomenon means people who aren't very good at a given task are overconfident, while people with high ability tend to underestimate their skills. It's often revealed by cognitive tests — which contain problems to assess attention, decision-making, judgment and language. 

But now, scientists at Finland's Aalto University (together with collaborators in Germany and Canada) have found that using artificial intelligence (AI) all but removes the Dunning-Kruger effect — in fact, it almost reverses it.

https://www.livescience.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/the-more-that-people-use-ai-the-more-likely-they-are-to-overestimate-their-own-abilities

Beyond the Hype: Transforming Academic Excellence and Leadership Culture in the Age of AI - Joe Sallustio, Campus Technology

While most higher education leaders focus on AI's operational benefits — and rightfully so — the deeper transformation lies in how artificial intelligence is fundamentally reshaping what it means to learn, teach, and lead in the 21st century. The question isn't just whether institutions can keep pace operationally; the real challenge is whether we can maintain academic rigor and cultivate critical thinking in an AI-enhanced world while fostering the leadership culture necessary for sustainable transformation. In the Educause 2024 AI Landscape study, approximately 64% of students indicated regular use of generative AI tools as part of their coursework. This isn't a future trend — it's today's reality. Advanced AI tutoring systems can now offer formative feedback that encourages deeper critical analysis beyond mere surface editing, helping both students and faculty engage more meaningfully in learning.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2025/11/20/beyond-the-hype-transforming-academic-excellence-and-leadership-culture-in-the-age-of-ai.aspx

Administration takes big steps in breaking up Education Department - Micah Ward, University Business

The Trump administration has announced six new interagency agreements to “break up” the U.S. Department of Education. Here’s what’s being changed. New partnerships with the Departments of Labor, Interior, Health and Human Services and State aim to leverage each partner agency to deliver programs that are better suited based on their respective areas of expertise. For instance, the partnership with the Department of Labor, labeled the Elementary and Secondary Education Partnership, allows the department to take a greater role in administering federal K12 programs, “ensuring these programs are better aligned with workforce and college programs,” according to a press release.

https://universitybusiness.com/administration-takes-big-steps-in-breaking-up-education-department/

No, the Pre-AI Era Was Not That Great - Zach Justus and Nik Janos, Inside Higher Ed

There are dozens of examples we could pull together here, and we could dive much deeper into the historical archive to find professors complaining about study/reading/writing habits, but the point is clear enough. What we are interested in is, what are the impacts of being overly nostalgic about pre-AI/pandemic education? First, it allows us to blame everything wrong with education on generative AI rather than acknowledge deep and justifiable concerns we have had for a while. The current technology serves as a convenient scapegoat for problems we may have been aware of but decided to live with. Course Hero, Chegg and other providers had industrialized academic dishonesty before ChatGPT was launched. We decided not to deal with that and, rather than face up to our past oversights, we have simply forgotten.

https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/views/2025/11/20/no-pre-ai-era-was-not-great-opinion

AI in the Ivory Tower: A Necessary Evolution or a Threat to Academic Integrity? - TokenRing AI, WRAL

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into higher education has ignited a fervent debate across campuses worldwide. Far from being a fleeting trend, AI presents a fundamental paradigm shift, challenging traditional pedagogical approaches, redefining academic integrity, and promising to reshape the very essence of a college degree. As universities grapple with the profound implications of this technology, the central question remains: do institutions need to embrace more AI, or less, to safeguard the future of education and the integrity of their credentials? This discourse is not merely theoretical; it's actively unfolding as institutions navigate the transformative potential of AI to personalize learning, streamline administration, and enhance research, while simultaneously confronting critical concerns about academic dishonesty, algorithmic bias, and the potential erosion of essential human skills. The immediate significance is clear: AI is poised to either revolutionize higher education for the better or fundamentally undermine its foundational principles, making the decisions made today crucial for generations to come.

https://markets.financialcontent.com/wral/article/tokenring-2025-11-18-ai-in-the-ivory-tower-a-necessary-evolution-or-a-threat-to-academic-integrity

Gemini 3 Is Here—and Google Says It Will Make Search Smarter - Will Knight, Wired

Google is also using AI to build popular new tools like NotebookLM, which can auto-generate podcasts from written materials, and AI Studio which can prototype applications with AI. It’s even exploring embedding the technology into areas like gaming and robotics, which Hassabis says could pay huge dividends in years to come, regardless of what happens in the wider market.

https://www.wired.com/story/google-launches-gemini-3-ai-bubble-search/

The New Cliff Facing Higher Ed and How AI Might Help Solve It - Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher Ed

There is a new “cliff” in American higher education, and it is not the demographic cliff. Rather, it is the dramatic cliff in math knowledge, skills and abilities. Let me be clear that other discipline deficiencies are found in this new generation of college students, however they are dwarfed by those in math. These have most recently been quantified in a report from the University of California San Diego. The official “Senate-Administration Workgroup on Admissions Final Report” (released November 6, 2025) contains disturbing findings. This widely discussed report revealed that nearly one in eight incoming freshmen couldn’t meet middle school math standards!

https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/columns/online-trending-now/2025/11/26/new-cliff-facing-higher-ed-how-ai-might-help-solve

Student cheating dominates talk of generative AI in higher ed, but universities and tech companies face ethical issues too - Jeffrey C. Dixon, Times-Union

As a sociologist who teaches about AI and studies the impact of this technology on work, I am well acquainted with research on the rise of AI and its social consequences. And when one looks at ethical questions from multiple perspectives – those of students, higher education institutions and technology companies – it is clear that the burden of responsible AI use should not fall entirely on students’ shoulders. I argue that responsibility, more generally, begins with the companies behind this technology and needs to be shouldered by higher education institutions themselves.

https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/student-cheating-dominates-talk-of-generative-ai-21191955.php