By Gregory W. Fowler, PhD, President, University of Maryland Global Campus
For decades, public policy has been guided by an image of higher education that no longer reflects reality. Too often, decision-making assumes an 18-year-old student who moves into a dormitory, relies on parents or loans, and pursues a four-year degree while studying full time.
Data, of course, tells a different story. Today, only one-in-four current undergraduates fit this model, and more than 60 percent learn online at least part of the time.
It is time we acknowledge that residential learners are no longer the norm; in fact, they are a niche. If we want better outcomes, we must modernize policy to meet learners where they are: in the workforce, in the military, and at the cornerstone of our economy.
By increasing access, removing “credit friction,” and imparting future-proof skills, we can move from good intentions to good outcomes.
Affordability and Access as a Pathway
True access involves more than lower tuition and flexible scheduling. For adult learners especially—who balance coursework with work, families, and community responsibilities—access means bringing innovative strategies to bear to shorten the distance from initial engagement to meaningful progress.
At University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC), our 3D Scholarship Program offers an example. In partnership with Prince George’s Community College and Prince George’s County Public Schools, the program allows qualifying students to earn community college credit while still in high school, transfer credit seamlessly to UMGC, and complete a bachelor’s degree for $10,000 or less. Students can graduate with little or no debt, ahead of their peers, and enter the workforce ready to contribute.
This is more than an affordability strategy; it is a proven approach to improving outcomes. Data from our scholarship programs shows that students who enter college through structured, predictable pathways persist and complete at significantly higher rates.
Our Maryland Completion Scholarship supports this. By allowing graduates of Maryland community colleges to complete a UMGC degree for $12,000 or less, it removes what many call the “transfer tax” (lost credits, higher tuition, and the confusion that can accompany the move to a four-year institution). By eliminating these obstacles, graduation rates rise and debt declines.
Policy can mirror this logic. Expanding Workforce Pell, for example, would help learners fund short-term, workforce-aligned programs that provide immediate value and can later stack into degrees. It would reward movement and momentum, not just enrollment.
Removing “Credit Friction”
If a military service member has mastered leadership, logistics, or cybersecurity through required training, it is a policy failure to insist that they study the same content again in a traditional classroom. This unnecessary redundancy is what I call “credit friction.”
Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) addresses this issue directly. It recognizes what adult learners already know and can do, saving them time and money while affirming their professional identities. At UMGC, our Military Rank for Credit program has helped some 15,600 servicemembers avoid redundant coursework, saving an estimated $19.1 million in a little more than a year, while translating their experience into college credit that carries weight both inside the military and across the civilian workforce.
Modernized policy should adopt this mindset: competency and skills are the foundation of credit, not its alternative. Reducing credit friction accelerates completion, improves affordability, and strengthens learners’ ability to articulate their capabilities in the job market.
Future-Proofing Skills
Finally, student-first policy must also look ahead. The pace of change in the workplace is relentless, and AI is already a foundational capability, on par with literacy and numeracy. Our responsibility is not to prepare learners for the jobs of today but to help them develop the agility to thrive in roles that do not yet exist.
Integrating AI literacy across the curriculum and modeling its responsible use will help ensure that graduates remain relevant and competitive. For policymakers, this means supporting data reform and flexible accreditation standards that allow institutions to update programs at the speed of industry rather than the speed of bureaucracy.
A System for Today’s Learners
Most of today’s students are adults who carry the weight of work, family, service, and community. They view education as an opportunity to advance, to build better lives for themselves and those they love. They deserve policy that respects their time, values their expertise, and lowers the financial barriers to progress.
In 2026, we have an opportunity to eliminate outdated policy assumptions that hold students back and instead build a system that truly puts them first while at the same time making education stronger, more accessible, and more aligned with workforce needs.
Recent Comments