At a meeting of our University Curriculum Committee (where I am one of the Faculty Senate reps) today, someone from the Provost's Office reported that she'd been losing sleep over recent EAB and WEF reports. She may be privy to newer ones (I asked if she might share them) but I found one of each, EAB's "The Future of Student Success," which included fun graphics like the one below, a backgrounder for variously dire scenarios for the future of American higher ed institutions. The
World Economic Forum "Future of Jobs Report 2025" predicted that in a rapidly changing economy the majority of people employed today will require additional training within the next five years. The hastening obsolescence of "skills" makes the case for liberal arts education stronger, my Provost's Office colleague told me in a private zoom chat. But good news is otherwise hard to discern in these reports. And the two I found are from 2024 and January 2025, respectively, before the US government's war on universities was launched! Fasten your seatbelts.
