College Education, Featured, Life on Campus

The Future of Higher Education: Will Colleges Look Completely Different in 10 Years?

Zoe Phelan

Higher education is approaching a defining moment. College enrollment has been declining for more than a decade, with the share of high school graduates pursuing higher education falling from 70% in 2009 to just 61% today. But shrinking enrollment is only one piece of a much larger transformation.

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the shift to online learning, with distance education increasing by 186% between 2019 and 2020. Since then, colleges have been forced to rethink traditional teaching methods as students place greater emphasis on affordability, flexibility, and career-ready skills rather than purely theoretical knowledge. At the same time, institutions must navigate rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI), changing workforce demands, and growing financial pressures.

As colleges adapt to these challenges, the future of higher education is likely to look very different from today’s campus experience. Here’s how learning could evolve by 2035, which institutions are best positioned to survive, and the role technology will play in shaping the next generation of college education.

How College Learning Could Change by 2035

By 2035, hybrid learning is expected to become the standard rather than the exception. Enrollment in hybrid programs grew by 51% between fall 2017 and 2023, even as overall college enrollment declined. The shift reflects changing student preferences, with 86% of residential undergraduate students saying they prefer a combination of in-person and online learning. Even among prospective students, one in four already expects some form of hybrid education when they enroll in college.

Research suggests these models offer measurable benefits. Studies have found that hybrid learning significantly improves both student engagement and academic performance by combining the flexibility of online coursework with the collaboration and community of face-to-face instruction. This balance allows students to better manage work, family responsibilities, and other commitments without sacrificing the campus experience.

Technology will also enable a far more personalized approach to education. Rather than moving every student through the same curriculum at the same pace, colleges are beginning to embrace what’s known as precision learning—an approach where students achieve the same learning outcomes through individualized pathways based on their strengths, goals, and progress.

Delivering this level of personalization will require sophisticated data systems, dynamic learner profiles, and AI-powered tools capable of adapting coursework in real time. Institutions are already moving in this direction, with 57% identifying AI as a strategic priority in 2025, up from 49% the previous year.

Physical campuses will most likely evolve as well. Traditional lecture halls will increasingly give way to flexible, technology-enabled spaces designed for collaboration, hybrid instruction, and lifelong learning, serving students of different ages and career stages.

Which Colleges Will Survive?

Not every institution will successfully navigate these changes. Harvard Business School researchers have predicted that roughly one-quarter of U.S. colleges could close, merge, or declare bankruptcy within the next decade. More recent analyses estimate that more than 440 of the nation’s 1,700 private nonprofit four-year colleges face a significant risk of closure by 2036. Machine learning models are now able to predict institutional closures with approximately 83% accuracy, outperforming traditional federal accountability metrics.

Smaller colleges face the greatest risk. Among institutions with fewer than 1,000 students, more than three-quarters exhibit at least three major warning signs, including tuition discount rates above 35% and heavy reliance on tuition revenue for more than 85% of their operating income.

The economics have become increasingly difficult. By the 2017–18 academic year, the median tuition discount rate for first-time freshmen had climbed to nearly 50%, meaning many students paid only about half of the advertised tuition price.

Institutions that ultimately close often share similar characteristics. They tend to experience steep enrollment declines—often losing more than half of their students in the two years before closure—and depend heavily on tuition revenue. At colleges that closed, tuition accounted for an average of 86% of institutional revenue, compared with 45% at schools that remained financially stable. Many also reported operating losses in at least three of the five years leading up to closure.

Demographic trends are adding further pressure. The Northeast and Midwest are expected to experience significant declines in the traditional college-age population while continuing to support a large number of competing institutions.

Role of AI and Technology

Artificial intelligence is already transforming nearly every aspect of higher education. Today, 92% of students report using AI tools, while 94% of faculty and staff say they have incorporated AI into their work within the past six months. In response, most colleges have begun developing formal AI strategies, with 92% implementing policies that focus on testing AI tools while managing potential risks.

Faculty attitudes remain largely positive despite ongoing concerns. More than four in five instructors report feeling either enthusiastic or cautiously optimistic about AI’s role in education.

The greatest opportunities lie in reducing administrative workloads and enhancing teaching. Two-thirds of higher education professionals identify automating repetitive administrative tasks as AI’s most valuable application. AI-powered tutoring, adaptive assessments, personalized learning experiences, automated grading, and early-alert systems that identify struggling students all have the potential to improve educational outcomes while allowing faculty to spend more time on teaching and mentorship.

Despite this momentum, significant challenges remain. 60% percent of institutions cite the rapid pace of AI development as their biggest obstacle, while 55% report a shortage of AI expertise. Nearly half also point to the lack of established best practices.

Another concern is the growing disconnect between AI adoption and policy awareness. Although AI usage is widespread, only 54% of faculty members say they are familiar with their institution’s AI guidelines.

Beyond AI, technologies such as virtual and augmented reality are expected to play a larger role in fields that rely on hands-on learning and visualization, including healthcare, engineering, and architecture. While these technologies continue to mature, educational applications are still developing compared with their widespread use in the consumer market.

Conclusion

By 2035, higher education is likely to look dramatically different than it does today. Hybrid learning is set to become the norm, AI will reshape both teaching and administration, and financial pressures will force many colleges to merge, reinvent themselves, or close altogether.

The institutions most likely to succeed will likely be those that embrace flexibility, invest strategically in technology, diversify their revenue streams, and focus on delivering clear value to students. As expectations continue to evolve, colleges that adapt quickly will be best positioned to thrive, while those that resist change risk being left behind.