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Strategic Insights from the 2025 AAC&U Employer Survey: What Employers Want From Higher Education

Release Date: 12/16/2025

The Purpose of Liberal Arts Education in the Age of AI

Changing Higher Ed

The same students who say college costs too much are overwhelmingly saying it was worth it, and that contradiction is the key to the entire public confidence debate. In Gallup-Lumina polling cited in this episode, 93 percent of bachelor's students called their degree a worthwhile investment. The doubt is about price, not the education, and generative AI has raised the stakes for confusing the two. In this episode of the , speaks with , where she is leading t, about the purpose of liberal arts education in the age of AI. Acampora argues that the purpose of higher education is human formation,...

Building Fairleigh Dickinson’s Lifelong Learning Ecosystem Across Five Generations

Changing Higher Ed

Program discontinuation is usually the fight presidents avoid. Fairleigh Dickinson University put a significant slate of program discontinuations and consolidations to a faculty referendum, and roughly 88 percent of the faculty endorsed it. The vote reflects a larger redefinition underway at FDU: a shift from the four-year degree to a university built around lifelong learning. In this episode of the , Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with and the first FDU graduate to hold the office, about the four-P framework guiding that redefinition: programs, people, partnerships, and place. Avaltroni...

Pairing Liberal Arts with Tech Readiness: Five Institutional Decisions from Manhattan University

Changing Higher Ed

At Manhattan University, the case for the liberal arts is being made with outcomes, not nostalgia. Its graduates rank in the top 2% nationally for mid-career salaries, and The Wall Street Journal ranked the university 73rd in the country for graduate salaries, social mobility, and cost-effectiveness. The more useful story for institutional leaders sits underneath those numbers: a set of deliberate decisions about , technology preparation, faculty adoption, hiring, and alumni engagement. In this episode of the , speaks with , President of , about how the institution pairs a liberal arts...

Student Retention: Using AI to Spot Disengagement Before Dropout

Changing Higher Ed

Most retention systems flag struggling students through grades and attendance. By the time those indicators fire, many students are already halfway out the door. Elvee's survey of 1,050 U.S. college students shows why: 86% start college highly motivated, 42% come close to dropping out at some point, and only 17% of those who struggle ever request help. In this episode of the , speaks with , CEO of , whose work with U.S. colleges centers on reading behavioral data for early signals of student disengagement. Drawing on his background in commercial technology, Dar explains how patterns in...

Higher Ed's Trust Problem Isn't a PR Problem: AAC&U's Trust Agenda

Changing Higher Ed

Half of college presidents worried about public trust are answering with a public relations campaign. According to the AAC&U report at the center of this episode, that is a reasonable instinct but the wrong one. Public confidence in colleges and universities has slid for more than a decade, and messaging alone will not turn it around. In this episode of the , speaks with , lead author of and he co-directs AAC&U’s Advancing Public Trust in Higher Education initiative, about why trust has eroded and what campus leaders can actually do about it. Their conversation moves past naming...

Why Research Funding Cuts Are a Strategic Risk, Not a Budget Problem

Changing Higher Ed

When the federal government freezes research funding, leaders tend to treat it as a budget problem: a number that was cut and might later be restored. The harder truth in this conversation is that much of the damage cannot be undone. Halted studies, shuttered labs, and departed early-career researchers do not simply resume when the money comes back. Research funding cuts are a strategic risk, not a line item. In this episode of the , speaks with , President and CEO of the and former chancellor of UC Berkeley. Dirks , reflecting on the protests that had put Berkeley at the center of national...

When AI Finds the Administrative Friction Higher Ed Leaders Miss

Changing Higher Ed

Most AI conversations in higher education focus on the academic side. The administrative side gets less attention and is producing the bigger near-term financial wins for institutions willing to govern the rollout. In this episode of the , speaks with , about how AI is being applied across enrollment and advancement at institutions including Empire State University, Florida Southwestern State College, and Boise State University. Drawing on his career across Blackboard, Instructure, Kaltura, and now Gravyty, Beck walks through the specific case studies behind administrative AI adoption: a...

Inside CSU’s ChatGPT Edu Rollout Across 22 Universities

Changing Higher Ed

AI implementation in higher education is often framed as a technology question. California State University treated it as with technology as the catalyst, rolling out ChatGPT Edu to 22 universities in 18 months while running the largest AI survey ever conducted at a single university system. In this episode of the , speaks with , about how the system designed and executed its generative AI implementation and what the of 94,060 respondents reveals about AI adoption, faculty engagement, and student behavior. Drawing on her work co-leading the academic side of CSU's GenAI initiative,...

AI in Higher Education: Bias, Procurement, and Human Oversight

Changing Higher Ed

At sixteen, with straight A's in math and science, Dr. Karen Panetta's school career assessment told her to sell makeup or be a cook. A male friend with lower scores got engineer or politician. No AI was involved. Just a rules-based system applying gender and biographical filters to two teenagers. That same logic now sits inside AI tools landing in admissions offices and HR systems across higher ed, with one critical difference: AI does not eliminate human bias, it removes the human accountability that used to make bias correctable. In this episode of the , speaks with , Dean of Graduate...

AI-First Business Education: How Kogod Transformed Culture, Curriculum, and Faculty Adoption

Changing Higher Ed

Most business schools are still forming committees to figure out what to do about AI. Kogod School of Business at American University formed a committee, but far from the typical higher ed standards. Leadership gave it six weeks and a five-page limit, and used the recommendation to integrate AI into every department, major, and minor. Three years later, undergraduate enrollment is up 40%, applications are up 50%, and more than 90% of faculty are using AI in the classroom. In this episode of the , speaks with returning guests , Dean of the Kogod School of Business at American University, and ,...

More Episodes

In this episode of the Changing Higher Ed® podcast, Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with Dr. Ashley Finley, Vice President of Research and Senior Advisor to the President at the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), about the findings of the 2025 AAC&U Employer Survey and what they reveal about employer expectations for higher education.

Based on nearly 20 years of longitudinal research, the 2025 survey challenges many of the dominant public narratives about the value of college. Employers continue to express strong confidence in higher education, place equal importance on workforce preparation and citizenship, and increasingly emphasize adaptability, judgment, and civic capacity as core professional requirements.

Dr. Finley explains how employers view civic skills as workplace competencies, why mindsets and dispositions are now baseline expectations rather than “soft skills,” and how AI is reshaping what it means to be prepared for an uncertain future. The conversation also addresses generational differences among employers, the growing role of microcredentials, and why institutions must model the agility they expect from graduates.

This episode is especially relevant for presidents, trustees, provosts, and senior leaders navigating political pressure, workforce alignment, and questions about institutional value.

Topics Covered:

What the 2025 AAC&U Employer Survey reveals that public narratives often miss
Why employers see preparing informed citizens and a skilled workforce as inseparable goals
How civic skills, including constructive disagreement, translate directly to workplace success
Why motivation, resilience, initiative, and self-awareness are now baseline hiring expectations
How employers think about AI readiness beyond simple tool proficiency
Which student experiences increase hiring likelihood beyond internships
How employers evaluate the credibility and value of microcredentials and certificates
Generational shifts in employer expectations and what they signal for the future

Three Takeaways for University Presidents and Boards:

Institutions must communicate learning outcomes more clearly, including mindsets and dispositions, so students can articulate who they are becoming, not just what they know.
Career-relevant experiences extend far beyond internships; leadership roles, campus employment, and community engagement carry significant employer value and are often more scalable.
Agility must be modeled institutionally. Employers value adaptability, and colleges and universities cannot promote it in students while resisting change themselves.

Bonus Takeaway from Dr. McNaughton:

Employers continue to value higher education and the four-year degree, despite political rhetoric and cost-driven narratives suggesting otherwise. This disconnect presents both a risk and an opportunity for institutional leaders.

This conversation offers data-grounded insight into how employers actually view higher education—and what leaders can do to align strategy, communication, and culture with those expectations.

Read the full transcript:
https://changinghighered.com/strategic-insights-2025-aacu-employer-survey/

#HigherEducation #HigherEducationLeadership #AACU #EmployerSurvey #WorkforceReadiness #ChangingHigherEdPodcast

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