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Disrupting higher education for the "100-year life"

  • Florence Robson
  • Dec 13, 2025
  • 3 min read

The following insights are drawn from a November 2025 roundtable focused on the fundamental challenges facing education systems as they prepare learners for an uncertain, AI-driven future. The provocateur for this roundtable was Dr Nelson Baker, Senior Associate Dean for Strategy at Georgia Tech’s College of Lifetime Learning, an institution-wide enterprise dedicated to the future of adult and intermittent education.



Higher education is facing a perfect storm of accelerating technological adoption and shifting demographics. While it took airlines 68 years to reach 50 million users, ChatGPT achieved double that number in just two months. This exponential increase in technological velocity means that nearly 40% of the average person’s skills now need immediate updating to remain relevant.


Simultaneously, we are entering the era of the "100-year life". The archaic model of “learn, work, retire” has become physically and economically obsolete, replaced by a paradigm where individuals learn and work simultaneously across a century-long trajectory.


As Dr Nelson Baker argued, universities can no longer afford to force learners to come to them. "Higher ed needs to disrupt itself rather than wait for forces outside," Baker noted. The success of Georgia Tech’s model — where 50% of credit-bearing headcount is now composed of online adult learners — proves that "moving to the learners" is the only sustainable path forward.



The shift from ladders to skills-stacking


The professional path is no longer a linear ladder; it has become a process of "career bouldering". Learners are increasingly moving sideways to acquire specific competencies that meet immediate market needs. 


The most successful outcomes in this new economy occur when individuals stack durable, human-centric credentials (such as a Psychology degree) with technical certificates (such as UX Design). This combination of durable and technical skills allows candidates to avoid entry-level stagnation and secure higher wages immediately.


However, a roundtable participant noted that a talent gap persists because many traditional curricula are irrelevant by the time students graduate. To address this challenge, participants suggested that universities act as startup-like ecosystems that mirror the "porosity" of hubs like MIT’s Kendall Square Initiative. In this model, education is co-created with industry, ensuring that research and real-world teaching are no longer siloed.



Making education systemic change explicit


For decades, academia has talked about change without implementing it at scale. To move from discussion to action, universities must transform their internal incentive structures. Faculty should be rewarded not just for discipline-specific theory but for research that translates directly into community impact and real-world classroom application.


Dr Baker proposed the "learning hospital" model as the definitive path forward:


  • A "learning school", dedicated to the science of learning and research (i.e. the medical school).

  • A "learning community", dedicated to porous, intermittent service where students move in and out of the workforce (i.e. the teaching hospital).


This approach requires curriculum transparency. Digital credentials must be granular and searchable, allowing employers to see exact competencies. Finally, universities must "eat their own dog food". As large employers themselves, they must model upskilling within their own faculty and staff to demonstrate institutional resilience.



Addressing the equity dilemma and the funding gap


The mandate for the disruptors of higher education is clear: the cradle-to-grave model must be accessible, not just aspirational. Solutions must include lower-cost, high-scale credentials (like Georgia Tech’s $10,000 master’s degree at scale) to ensure that the "100-Year Life" does not become an exclusive benefit of the few. 


However, a pivot to online-first upskilling programmes runs the risk of widening the digital divide. A roundtable participant raised a vital point: while elite institutions move toward AI-driven learning, vast populations in the Global South and rural areas missed years of foundational learning during the pandemic due to a lack of basic devices and connectivity.


Crucially, sustainability must extend beyond the climate to encompass the cultural and business aspects of the educational model. As Dr Baker noted, "There has to be a business model that’s sustainable and that’s a missing component too." Any successful answer to the future of education must, therefore, change the university business model, not just the curriculum.




Thank you also to everyone who attended this roundtable. We look forward to continuing this urgent dialogue as we actively work with partners across education and industry to build educational models that prioritise human potential across every lifestage.


 
 
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