Rethinking Rigor in a System Built on Barriers

by Presidents Forum | Jan 12, 2026 | Innovation, Video

Rethinking Rigor in a System Built on Barriers

Why it matters:

Higher education often treats difficulty as evidence of rigor. Over time, that has led institutions to defend complexity and friction, even when those obstacles do little to improve learning or student outcomes.

The big picture:

Making college easier to navigate does not mean making it academically weaker. It means removing administrative and structural barriers so students can spend more time learning and less time trying to decipher the system. When programs are designed around outcomes rather than seat time, students progress more efficiently while still meeting high expectations.

What they’re saying:

Students do not arrive as blank slates. They bring prior learning from work, life, and earlier education. Institutions serve students best when they help learners demonstrate what they already know, identify genuine gaps, and move forward with purpose, instead of forcing repetition that adds cost and time without adding value.

What to watch:

Technology, particularly AI, is accelerating this shift. Used thoughtfully, it can support personalized feedback, adaptive learning, and academic support at a scale higher education has historically struggled to achieve. The opportunity is not automation for its own sake, but better learning supported by clearer signals of progress and mastery.

Bottom line:

Rigor is defined by results, not by how hard a system is to navigate. The future of higher education depends on clearing pathways for students while holding firm to meaningful academic standards.

The Learners Workforce Pell Is Meant to Reach

by Presidents Forum | Jan 9, 2026 | Innovation

The Learners Workforce Pell Is Meant to Reach

The big picture:

Unlike traditional Pell, Workforce Pell targets people already in the workforce or seeking to reenter it. Many are not enrolled anywhere today because long-term programs were never a viable option. Short-term credentials can work for these learners, but only if quality and outcomes are central to the design.

Who this impacts most:

Working adults seeking advancement or a career change
Learners in applied fields such as IT and healthcare
Individuals who need fast, affordable pathways tied to jobs

What they’re saying:

Access alone will not be enough. Institutions, states, and employers all have a responsibility for making sure learners know these options exist and can navigate them successfully. Quality safeguards matter, but they need to be informed by data, not fear of innovation.

What to watch:

Stackable credentials that can build toward larger goals
Hands-on learning through labs, simulations, and real-world scenarios
Competency-based education that lets learners prove what they can do
Employer collaboration to validate skills and hiring outcomes

Bottom line:

Workforce Pell has real potential to expand opportunity, but its success depends on maintaining quality while designing programs that reflect how working learners actually build skills and careers.

Leading Higher Education Forward in the Year Ahead

by Presidents Forum | Jan 8, 2026 | Innovation

Leading Higher Education Forward in the Year Ahead

Why it matters:

Higher education is not in a temporary disruption. It is at a structural inflection point that requires presidents to build new systems that match how learners actually live, work, and learn.

The big picture:

The Presidents Forum positions itself as a community of leaders designing the future of higher education through accountable innovation. The focus is on access, quality, mobility, affordability, and outcomes for nontraditional learners.

What to watch:

The Forum plans to accelerate impact this year by advancing a student-centered policy agenda, deepening collaboration across member institutions, and prioritizing meaningful in-person work that translates strategy into action.

Bottom line:

This is a call for presidential leadership that moves from reacting to change to shaping it, with students as the clear priority.

Measuring What Students Can Actually Do

by Presidents Forum | Dec 19, 2025 | Policy, Video

Measuring What Students Can Actually Do

The big idea:

Technology, especially AI, is making assessment easier, more authentic, and more scalable for adult learners by shifting the focus from seat time to demonstrated skills.

Why it matters:

Assessment is where most learning friction lives. When done poorly, it pushes faculty back to multiple-choice tests that fail to show what students can actually do.

What’s changing:

Performance-based assessment at scale: Technology reduces scheduling, scoring, and evidence-capture burdens.
AI as a faculty amplifier: Generative AI helps draft rubrics, simulations, and scenarios, freeing faculty to focus on judgment and feedback.
Simulations over tests: Learners demonstrate skills in real-world scenarios, not artificial exam conditions.
Beyond the transcript: Digital credentials and learning records make competencies portable and employer-relevant.

Bottom line:

Making higher education easier is not about lowering rigor. It is about measuring what matters.

How AI Turned Public Comments Into Policy Insight

by Presidents Forum | Dec 17, 2025 | Policy, Video

How AI Turned Public Comments Into Policy Insight

Why it matters:

Public comment processes shape federal policy, but volume has made them hard to use. AI is changing that.

What happened:

Analyst Phil Hill used AI tools to analyze all 1,124 public comments submitted to the Department of Education ahead of negotiated rulemaking. Work that once took months now takes hours.

What he found:

Workforce Pell is harder than headlines suggest. The real risk is not runaway programs. It is guardrails so tight they may limit scale and impact.
Implementation is the battleground. Non-term programs, earnings measures, placement rates, and stackable credentials introduce complexity the aid system has not handled before.
Public comments contain real expertise. Financial aid leaders and practitioners surfaced practical insights that often get lost.

The bigger takeaway:

AI does not replace public input. It makes it usable. Thousands of fragmented comments become actionable intelligence for policymakers and negotiators.

What’s next:

Hill plans to reuse this AI-driven approach to evaluate upcoming rulemaking outcomes and to assess whether final regulations respond to what the public actually said.

Bottom line:

AI can transform public comments from a box-checking exercise into a learning engine for smarter, student-centered policy.