7 Ai Decisions That Will Define Higher Education In 2026 Forbes

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Jan 2, 2026, 5:25 AM

by News Feed Editor | Dec 26, 2025 | Education 7 AI Decisions That Will Define Higher Education In 2026 Forbes Article Attribution | Read More at Article Source Search Engine Watch past honorable mention winner for Best News Search Engine. Site Design and Operation by Murray Owen LLC | A Web Development and Operations Company Artificial intelligence is no longer a myriad of experiments in higher education – it has been firmly cemented as an essential part of institutional strategy (for better and for worse).

Over the past two years, we’ve seen a dramatic shift from anxiety and reaction to strategy and intentionality. In 2026, that shift will deepen. AI will stop being the thing higher education talks about and become the thing it plans alongside, repositioning it as a tool to drive institutional strategy. To understand where the field is headed, we spoke with four of our internal experts: Kelsey Behringer (CEO), Craig Booth (CTO), Oliver Short (Director of Product & Design), and Barbara Kenny (Senior Product Manager),... Packback CEO, Kelsey Behringer, believes that 2026 will be the year higher education finally defines what responsible AI means in practice. “In 2025, educators were overwhelmed by noise,” she explained.

“There was excitement, fear, experimentation, but little clarity. The institutions that succeed in 2026 will be those that define, operationalize, and communicate what responsible AI use looks like within their context.” Kelsey believes the future of responsible AI practice begins with people. “Institutions must keep humans in the loop,” she said. “AI should solve problems, improve outcomes, and do no harm. When students feel disconnected from the human side of learning, they disengage.”

This “human in the loop” philosophy mirrors Packback’s approach to building Instructional AI. Instruction-first tools like Packback center on transparency, feedback, and pedagogy, not automation for automation’s sake. Kelsey predicts that 2026 will bring new models of partnership between faculty and AI, where instructors focus on mentoring and critical dialogue while AI handles repetitive mechanics like grammar feedback or rubric alignment. “Responsible AI is more than merely compliance, it’s about the trust that must be cultivated and protected between student and educator. The institutions that earn that trust will unlock AI as a tool to serve their mission.” Avaap delivers expertise, personalized support, and results that advance our customers’ toughest challenges.

As higher education faces demographic shifts, fiscal pressures, and rapid technological change, 2026 will mark a turning point for colleges and universities. We believe that institutions that embrace innovation while maintaining trust and governance will lead the way. Continue reading to learn more about Avaap’s expert predictions for 2026 higher education trends. By 2026, colleges will transition from merely experimenting with generative AI to integrating systems that actively assist students, faculty, and administrators with tasks like scheduling, advising, and initiating workflows. The key factor will be trust and governance: how institutions curate, rather than just deploy, AI to enhance human judgment. As demographic and fiscal pressures grow, institutions will increasingly combine administrative and technology functions — creating regional or mission-aligned micro-consortia that share ERP platforms, analytics hubs, and even data governance frameworks.

The aim: maintain institutional identity while achieving scale and efficiency. Colleges are set to integrate institutional data with labor market analytics and learner outcomes, transforming program planning from a reactive approach to a predictive one. We can anticipate an increase in skills intelligence platforms, redesigning curricula based on employability data, and developing tools to optimize faculty workload that links teaching efforts to student success and ROI. Colleges and universities are entering 2026 with shrinking margins, volatile enrollment, mounting talent gaps, and rapidly escalating expectations for data and AI. These 2026 analyst predictions for higher education highlight where leaders must make complex choices on modernization, governance, and AI adoption to protect their viability, mission, and reputation, while building lasting capacity for innovation. Supports institutions from technology strategy through contract negotiation

Enables planning for short and long-term strategies Empowers CIOs to lead their institutions into a dynamic technology landscape Get exclusive access to higher education analysts, rich research, premium publications, and advisory services. Last year marked the moment when education stopped talking in hypotheticals and started dealing with the reality of rapid technological change. The pace was quicker, the expectations were higher, and the sector reached a point where small experiments were no longer enough. AI became part of everyday decision making, digital confidence moved from nice-to-have to essential, and questions about trust, access, and skills surfaced more sharply than ever.

It was a year that forced schools, universities, and employers to think beyond pilots and begin shaping longer-term strategies. If 2025 was the acceleration point, 2026 is where education begins to build with more intention, more clarity, and a far stronger sense of what works. This shift sets the tone for the year ahead. The conversations shaping 2026 are no longer about whether technology belongs in classrooms, campuses, or workplaces, but about how it is designed, governed, and integrated so it genuinely strengthens learning and professional growth. The sector enters the year with sharper priorities, firmer expectations, and a clearer understanding of the gaps that still need addressing. So where does that leave us?

These are ETIH’s EdTech predictions for 2026. If there is one shift ETIH predicts will become impossible to ignore this year, it is how quietly AI slips into the systems everyone already uses. Instead of arriving as shiny new tools, AI will be baked into planning platforms, reporting dashboards, and workflow software, turning up in places where users barely notice it at first. That subtlety is exactly why 2026 will matter. When automation becomes the default rather than the add-on, schools, colleges, and employers will need to look more closely at what the technology is actually doing, who is checking it, and where human judgment... This is the year AI stops introducing itself and simply takes a seat at the table.

LISLE, Ill. – Dec. 15, 2025 Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming not just how people work, but how they learn, and higher education institutions are racing to keep pace. What once required specialized programing knowledge now sits within reach of anyone willing to master emerging AI tools. Colleges and universities are entering a period where innovation is no longer just about new technologies; it’s about orchestration. “The real shift in 2026 will be how institutions connect data, systems and workflows to make learning and operations more intelligent and adaptive,” said Chris Campbell, chief information officer at DeVry University.

AI is disrupting traditional models of education, from the speed in which students can develop and acquire skills to how accessible and personalized learning has become. “Large Learning Models (LLMs) are enabling true enablement of AI activities. As agentic and autonomous systems become more mainstream, we’ll need to embrace the power unlocked by this level of automation” noted Richard Korczyk, chief experience officer at DeVry University. Digital Twins and Hyper-Personalized Learning

7 Ai Decisions That Will Define Higher Education In 2026 Forbes

People Also Search

By News Feed Editor | Dec 26, 2025 | Education

Over The Past Two Years, We’ve Seen A Dramatic Shift

“There Was Excitement, Fear, Experimentation, But Little Clarity. The Institutions

This “human In The Loop” Philosophy Mirrors Packback’s Approach To

As Higher Education Faces Demographic Shifts, Fiscal Pressures, And Rapid