Higher education

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated changes already underway in higher education. For many colleges and universities, succeeding means both improving service to existing students as well as pivoting to serve new student segments across the learner lifetime. Doing this well means understanding learners’ varied journeys and motivations.

Accenture researched how colleges and universities can differentiate their approach to serving learners across a lifetime, to improve student satisfaction, experience, outcomes and equity. We surveyed 6,500+ post-secondary US learners aged 16 to 65+. Our research went beyond most student surveys to include the population of “all learners”.

We spoke with leaders at both private and public institutions – to take a pulse on pandemic-inspired changes within higher education, where nearly 50% of respondents anticipate making difficult but transformational changes in their institutions in the next 12 months. This interview series highlights everything from evolving approaches to serving and engaging students to operating model transformation. Learn more about what the future holds.