Higher education has always had a remarkable talent for mistaking historical precedent for natural law.
In my research and advising work with colleges and universities, I rarely encounter leaders unwilling to change. Instead, I encounter many who are hesitant to break higher education norms until another institution in their tier has. The modern institution operates inside a frame built decades ago—a frame so familiar it feels inevitable. But even inevitability changes over time.
The Four Year, 120-Credit Degree
The most persistent example is the 120‑credit, four‑year bachelor’s degree. Institutions often treat it as a pedagogical truth rather than a regulatory compromise. The structure emerged from financial aid rules, accreditation expectations, and the logistics of scheduling semesters — not from cognitive science or learning theory. When we ask academic leaders what a graduate must actually be able to do, the answer rarely maps cleanly onto 120 credit hours.
In strategy workshops, I ask a simple question: If you had to prove students developed the knowledge, skills, experiences, and maturity necessary to succeed in their field, how long would it take? The conversation changes immediately. Suddenly we discuss competency demonstrations rather than time served. Some programs realize they could certify readiness earlier; others discover they need more experiential depth rather than additional lectures. The number itself becomes irrelevant once learning outcomes become primary.
Some institutions are already moving head on into a less than 120-credit world, while other states and institutions are testing the waters. Frankly, it reminds me a little bit of online degrees in the early 2000s, when there was resistance by the “name brands”—until one or two did it, then everyone followed suit (even pre-COVID).
Majors as the Organizing Principle of the Undergraduate Degree
The second assumption is that disciplines must organize the student journey, with the entire experience revolving around a chosen major. Departments are effective administrative containers, but they are not natural learning pathways. Students experience college horizontally—through problems, projects, and identities—while institutions deliver it vertically through majors. The result is coherence for faculty and fragmentation for students.
When institutions pilot cross‑disciplinary pathways—or pathways focused around skills, not disciplines—two interesting things happen:
- Advising improves because students understand why they are learning something. Retention improves because purpose becomes visible.
- Faculty collaboration increases because teaching aligns around shared competencies rather than territorial course ownership.
None of this eliminates disciplines; it simply dethrones them as the sole architecture of learning.
It is no secret that skills, not majors, are what employers now most seek. Sticking rigidly to the old system will only negatively impact the Return on the higher education Investment, which is so under pressure right now. Hampshire College comes to mind as one institution that has effectively made this switch, and made it core to their value proposition – I expect more to do the same.
Tough Decisions Today Improve Performance Tomorrow
What connects these three conversations—and others focused on breaking higher education norms—is not disruption for its own sake. It’s clarity. When institutions define what outcomes matter, inherited structures become optional tools rather than defining constraints.
The institutions that thrive in the coming decade will not be those that abandon tradition, nor those that defend it reflexively. They will be the ones that treat tradition as a hypothesis—worthy of respect but subject to testing.
The moment a campus begins asking “how should it be?” instead of “how do we operate within expected norms?” strategy stops being defensive and becomes opportunistic. The opportunities are already showing for those who are willing to step into them; it just takes remembering that what has been, is not always what will be.
Preparing for What’s Next
Higher education is entering a period where long-standing assumptions deserve renewed scrutiny. Institutions that question inherited models—and ground those decisions in market realities and learner demand—will be better positioned for the future.
At Eduvantis, we help colleges and universities evaluate emerging trends, understand evolving student expectations, and develop strategies that strengthen enrollment, program portfolios, and institutional positioning. If you’re exploring how your institution can adapt to what’s next, we’d love to start a conversation.