The Path Forward for Higher Education in the Age of Longevity

Institutions like Harvard, Stanford and Cambridge have shown they’re serious about creating in-depth educational opportunities for middle-aged and older adults in recent years.

I applaud their efforts — but I don’t think they are enough.

In a Forbes piece titled Higher Ed Meets Longevity: The Global Rise Of Midlife Education, Avivah Wittenberg-Cox highlights programs at 12 universities across the globe.

“Higher education is being redesigned for the second half of our lengthening lives,” she writes.

Without criticizing the Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative or the Stanford Distinguished Careers Institute (DCI), it’s important to point out that these are typically expensive programs at elite universities, designed for those at the top of org charts and the wage scale.

They’re valuable, and I’m glad they exist.

But to have a significant impact on the economy — and society — we need universities, colleges and even technical schools to open opportunities for those aged 40 to 75, across the economic spectrum and, in particular, for those whom we have typically considered middle-income. All of us, including the institutions, stand to benefit.

Avivah’s piece focuses on programs that serve successful executives who are looking to go from success to significance — finding meaning in their work and giving back.

But in countries like the U.S., where average lifespan is increasing and adults want (or need) to work longer, higher education should also serve:

👉The construction worker who feels their days of working a physically demanding job are coming to an end, but needs to continue to draw a paycheck.

👉The middle-aged knowledge worker for whom AI isn’t just coming for their job, it has come and now they need programs and training that offer them the opportunity to reskill for their next career.

👉The 50-something middle manager who decides 30 years in one industry is long enough, and is ready to make a move.

Here’s the bottom line: 30- and 40-year careers will not support an economy with 100-year lifespans. Instead, we need to build the infrastructure for what will soon be 60- and 70-year careers.

And they may well be careers, plural. That’s where the opportunity lies for colleges, technical schools and universities. They can provide training and inspiration for second and even third careers. Middle-aged workers need the opportunity to learn skills for their next career, and the strength of our economy will depend upon it.

U.S. higher education has reached the edge of a “demographic cliff” — a decline in the number of high school graduates, due to declining birth rates around the time of the Great Recession.

These institutions need to find new students.

And middle-aged and older workers need to find ways to remain productive contributors to a changing economy as they approach and pass traditional retirement age.

This is a golden opportunity to truly re-energize our economy. Let’s not miss it.