Dr. Joe Sallustio stands out as a leading expert and influential voice in the world of higher education. His unique blend of experience across operations, finance, and academics positions him as a rare breed of executive with leadership acumen in diverse functional areas. Across his impressive 20+ year career, Joe has led teams in every critical aspect of university operation, from non-profit institutions to for-profit colleges. This comprehensive understanding makes him invaluable for scaling and operating businesses and institutions effectively in the 21st century. Currently, Joe is the Vice President of Industry Engagement for the industry-leading educational technology company, Ellucian. Additionally, he co-founded and hosts “The EdUp Experience Podcast,” America’s leading platform for higher education insights, featuring interviews with prominent global leaders. His influence and expertise further extend to his role as a sought-after keynote speaker, moderator, and facilitator. Joe is also the co-author of the best-selling book “Commencement: The Beginning of a New Era in Higher Education,” a trusted resource guiding thousands of staff and faculty worldwide.
As the host of The EdUp Experience Podcast, and in my role as Vice President of Industry Engagement at Ellucian, I have the honor of interviewing and connecting with leaders across higher education, educational technology, and business. While every conversation is interesting and unique, it is the time that I get to spend with college and university Presidents that gives me the greatest insight into the headwinds facing higher education. I also gain valuable perspectives on what the future holds for the industry as I collect and synthesize the thoughts and ideas from today’s college and university leaders.
Let’s move beyond the obvious predictions for higher education. Sure, we could talk about mergers, closures, or regulatory shifts – but that’s not particularly insightful given the current landscape. Drawing from my conversations with hundreds of college presidents and nearly 25 years in higher education leadership, I aim to identify the transformative changes that will reshape our industry. First, a quick review of my 2024 predictions published in a trade publication.:
Three Predictions for 2024 in Higher Education:
- The three-year bachelor’s degree would gain traction in the United States.
- Faculty and administrators would struggle to define what “cheating” is.
- The new Presidential pathway would run through enrollment.
Each of these predictions came true in its own way.
- The three-year bachelor’s continues to gain momentum and that is validated by recent guidance published by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education stating that the commission does “not require 120 credit hours for a bachelor’s degree…” and that these programs “do not require approval through substantive change”.
- There is no doubt that faculty and administration continue to battle with artificial intelligence and its application in an academic setting.
- The FAFSA Simplification disruption created consequences far beyond enrollment declines in the U.S. and Presidents are focused on enrollment management more than ever before.
Let’s move on to 2025 predictions. Admittedly, many of the challenges institutions wrestled with in 2024 will persist into 2025. However, I believe there are a few areas where we will see innovation dominate, helping to redefine the future of the industry.
Prediction #1: Prescriptive Curriculum for Year 4
Now that the 90-credit bachelor’s degree has garnered some attention, with Ensign College, in collaboration with BYU Pathway Worldwide, the American Public University System, and, most recently, Johnson & Wales University all launching 90-unit bachelor programs (with many more institutions expected to do the same), how will the 90-unit bachelor’s and the 120-unit bachelors be differentiated? My prediction is that institutions that offer a 90-unit bachelor’s will upsell an “add-on” year four option that has a prescribed curriculum deeply rooted in the liberal arts offered in a competency-based education (CBE) format. Imagine a year four curriculum expertly curated to include leadership, critical thinking, artificial intelligence, and organizational development courses specifically catered to the graduate going out to the workforce. This will be the way some institutions eventually experiment with CBE and offer a for-credit credential that directly enhances a student’s degree in the marketplace. This approach will allow innovative faculty, staff, and administrators stifled by inertia to innovate while minimizing the internal disruption that comes with academic calendar changes.
Prediction #2: Transcripts and the Transfer Market
The final regulations on withholding transcripts, financial value transparency, and gainful employment are going live in 2025 to promote accountability and consumer protection. While there may be some adjustments by the new administration, a focus on return on investment is expected to persist. Historically, institutions carry very large accounts receivable balances because of stopped-out students, withdrawals, or leave of absence students. Institutions have used receivables as a barrier for students to gain access to transcripts or as a carrot to get the student to re-enter the institution by offering balance remediation incentives. Essentially, as many higher education administrators know, holding transcripts until balances have been paid is common practice and the practice prevents the student from receiving validation that they took classes and received credit – it’s a transfer barrier. In 2025, institutions will no longer be able to hold transcripts if the credit received is directly funded by financial aid from the federal government. If the student was funded through a grant, for example, or paid cash for their education, and the institution can prove that those credits were not funded with federal financial aid, the institution can still hold the transcript. Student systems aren’t configured to produce partial transcripts categorized by credit funding source. In 2025, students will be able to access their transcripts whether they have a balance or not, so my prediction is that the transfer market will become supercharged and give some institutions a way to increase enrollment quickly.
Prediction #3: Prior Learning Assessment and Artificial Intelligence
More transfer students mean that there is going to be a greater need for swifter transfer credit evaluations. Even as our industry has progressed, evaluating credits for transfer is a tedious and time-intensive process, often with complex processes and approvals surrounding the outcome. Even with the emergence of skill stacking, micro-credentials, and student demand for shorter courses, many institutions have not navigated their own complexities to honor prior learning and accept competency for credit. I can name institutions that have created their own short course portfolio and refuse to accept their internally developed non-credit courses for credit via a prior learning assessment. However, with artificial intelligence becoming a focus for individuals and through institutional operations, the potential for AI to speed up and automate transfer credit evaluation is appealing. Upon suggesting that credit transfer evaluations should take less than 24 hours in my keynote presentations, I will get a few chuckles and eye rolls from the crowd. I’ve seen what a product like Sia can do, and how Journey, a new product from Ellucian, can produce skill ontologies pointing to degree outcomes by reading program learning objectives and visually displaying competency achievement. Institutions will wrestle with their prior learning assessment and credit for prior learning policies more aggressively in 2025, resulting in the search for technology to drive efficiency and minimize manual processing. My prediction is that AI will see breakthrough applications in higher education operations through credit transfer evaluations.
As we look toward 2025, higher education stands at a crossroads of innovation and necessity. The convergence of regulatory changes, technological advancement, and evolving student needs is forcing institutions to reimagine traditional models of education delivery. While the 90-credit bachelor’s degree, transcript accessibility, and AI-powered operations represent significant shifts, they are merely the beginning of a broader transformation. Success in 2025 will belong to institutions that can balance innovation with academic quality, operational efficiency with student support, and technological advancement with human connection.
The future of higher education is high-tech meets high touch!