Universities' Midlife Transition Programmes Take Off... Globally

A 3-Part Series

The First-Mover: Harvard’ Advanced Leadership Initiative

This is the first in a 3-part series presenting the many new ‘midlife transition’ programmes launching in universities across the globe. It started with Harvard, and the latest addition is at NUS in Singapore. I’ll be interviewing the Directors of many of these programmes in Season 10 of my 4-Quarter Lives podcast, airing this fall.

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Demographic Cliffs

They knew it was coming. It’s been in the data for well over a decade, and now it’s about to hit universities hard. College administrators call it ‘the demographic cliff.’ They point to the financial crisis of 2008 and the start of a steep decline in birth rates. A predictable 18 years later, there is projected to be a decline of up to a 15% in freshmen heading off to college. According to the Hechinger Report, regional universities alone could see their enrolments drop by more than 11 percent between 2012 and 2029.

The US Demographic CliffEconoFact.org

To make matters worse, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the lives of countless prospective college students and their parents, contributing to an even earlier enrolment decline. The New York Times reported a 9.4% decline in the number of undergraduate students—leaving American colleges and universities with 1.4 million fewer students.

Demography is destiny, especially for educational institutions. Will they embrace the writing on wall, and look to pivot towards new markets? There is a huge and growing population of people over 50 that may be aching to go back to school. I know, because I’m one of them. My 60^th birthday gift to myself? A year at Harvard.

The Issue - Higher Ed’s Disruption

Demographic decline means the traditional university market—the storied 18-25-year-old’s introduction to adulthood - is drying up rather precipitously. In the US, 2020 saw a 20% drop in fertility rates compared to 2007. Meanwhile, the number of older people grows in inverse parallel to the babies disappearing. The over-50s currently represent 34% of Americans, and another 28 million will join them over the next two decades.

The­­ prospect of change and re-creation in your 3rd Quarter (the years from 50-75) is still scary and revolutionary in societies programming later decades for rest, recreation or devotion. One female colleague of mine at Harvard admitted her grown children were spitting mad at her for her sudden abandonment of her maternal role for more selfish, intellectual pursuits in a faraway country. Transition programs designed for adults in midlife are sorely needed. Will the sector respond?

It’s starting. Here’s the latest list of pioneers and recent entrants, in order of launch: