If you attended the EDUCAUSE Annual Conference, hopefully, you had an opportunity to stop by the Evisions booth and see some of my wonderful colleagues. If not, catch up with us at one of our upcoming events! We’d love to hear your thoughts about the recently released EDUCAUSE Top 10 and how your campus plans to “foster a collective will and support individual capabilities” as we head into next year. In addition to my ideas about the EDUCAUSE Top 10, this week’s issue covers decreasing levels of college readiness in high school students before closing with a discussion of the UK’s efforts to create stackable pathways in their degree programs.   

After reading today’s issue, share your thoughts about 2026 EDUCAUSE Top 10 in the comments! 

EDUCAUSE Top 10 

From 2026 EDUCAUSE Top 10: Making Connections | EDUCAUSE Review

The 2026 EDUCAUSE Top 10 highlights how higher education technology and data leaders can foster a collective will and support individual capabilities—two deeply connected actions that will help institutions thrive in the year ahead. 

Our Thoughts  

I like where EDUCAUSE landed this year. The 2026 Top 10 centers on a simple idea that feels right for this moment: building a collective will across the institution while equipping people to do their best work. That framing matters. It acknowledges the turbulence on campuses yet still points us back to something deeply human. Progress will come from how we connect, listen, and work across roles, and not from chasing a signle tool to solve everything.  

What stands out to me is the explicit call to strengthen connection. The piece argues that institutions will move forward by knitting together their disparate parts and agreeing on what matters most. That is not anti-technology; it is a reminder that technology works when people are aligned on purpose and practice. 

Additionally, this resonates with how work actually gets done on campus. The hardest projects I have seen succeed did so because people trusted one another enough to try something a little undefined. When relationships are strong, a cross-functional data model or an AI pilot has room to iterate without becoming a turf war. EDUCAUSE’s message threads that needle well: align on a shared goal, then give talented people the space to improvise and adapt. True institutional progress emerges from human connection, mutual trust, and collaborative spirit, where technology becomes a bridge for collective achievement rather than a dividing line. By investing in people and community, we create the best path forward for our institutions.   

College Preparation Declining 

From America is slipping in higher education. The slide starts long before college. | Lumina Foundation 

The United States is struggling with higher education, spending more than its peers while experiencing lower completion rates and higher student debt, indicating a need for a comprehensive, continuous approach to educational investment and support.   

Our Thoughts  

If you care about the future of American higher education, the most sobering part of this story appears right in the opening paragraph. OECD’s latest Education at a Glance shows the United States spending at or near the top of its peers while graduating too few students on time, if at all. We pay more, yet talented students still struggle to finish. Pair that with NAEP’s new results showing continued slippage in twelfth-grade reading and math and roughly a third of eighth graders below basic in reading, and you have a pipeline problem that college alone cannot fix. 

Why this matters now is simple. The enrollment cliff is not a metaphor. Regional pipelines of high-school graduates are shrinking or stagnating, and institutions will feel real pressure to fill seats. If we respond only by widening the front door without strengthening supports, we should expect more stop-outs, longer times to degree, and higher costs for students who can least afford them. That combination will only deepen public skepticism. 

As a sector, we have to stop equating “access” to success and budget for the unseen but essential infrastructure that makes learning stick: corequisite supports at scale, tutoring embedded in courses, schedules designed to reduce friction for students (not faculty), and early alerts that lead to human outreach–not just another dashboard. The goal is fewer detours, faster progress, and better returns for students and taxpayers alike. 

None of this is glamorous, but addressing academic preparation head-on remains the most direct way to raise completion rates and lower costs in the near term. It’s also one of the surest paths back to trust. When families see students finish what they start, on time and with skills that transfer to both work and life, the confidence conversation changes. Right now, the national data are flashing warning lights. We can fix this if we treat education as one journey instead of disconnected stages and focus resources where they make the greatest difference in outcomes. 

Splitting Degree Programmes 

From Degree break points require ‘major reconfiguration’ of courses | Times Higher Education  

The UK government has plans to split degree programmes into more parts, allowing learners opportunities to stop and start more flexibly.      

Our Thoughts  

At first glance, you might be wondering why I included this article. I chose it because it serves as an important reminder that the shift toward smaller, stackable credentials is a global movement, not just a U.S. trend. In the U.K., policymakers are exploring “break points” within degree programs so learners can pause with recognized qualifications at the end of year one or year two. These efforts closely mirror the conversations happening here in the U.S. around microcredentials and stackable pathways.  

If we want to begin rebuilding public trust, one option is to recognize learning as it happens, not only at the finish line. As I highlighted in Issue 82, reverse transfer and “credential-as-you-go” models are already showing what this can look like in practice, from Colorado’s effort to award associate credentials to stopped-out students to national data on adults returning and finishing without re-enrolling. Every time a learner earns a recognized milestone along the journey, we give them proof of progress and a reason to stay engaged. That’s good for students, good for institutions, and good for the broader higher education ecosystem. By recognizing learning in motion, we turn progress, and not just completion, into something visible and valued, regaining some of the public trust we’ve lost.