What are durable skills and why do they matter in higher education?

Durable skills are transferable competencies such as critical thinking, communication, and collaboration that remain relevant across industries and roles. Employers increasingly prioritize these skills alongside technical knowledge when hiring graduates. Higher education is being pushed to make developing these skills a core outcome of the college experience.

What is mass experiential learning?

Mass experiential learning is a model that brings hands-on, project-based, or real-world learning experiences to large numbers of students simultaneously. It goes beyond traditional internships or small cohort programs by embedding experiential elements into standard coursework at scale. The goal is to ensure more students graduate with applied, practical competencies.

How is higher education responding to employer demands for better-prepared graduates?

Colleges and universities are exploring new instructional models, partnerships with industry, and curriculum redesigns to better align with workforce needs. Experiential and competency-based learning frameworks are gaining traction as alternatives to purely lecture-based instruction. Institutions that adapt quickly are positioning themselves as more relevant in a competitive higher education market.

The Future of Higher Ed? Mass Experiential...

The Future of Higher Ed? Mass Experiential Learning That Delivers Durable Skills

Higher education is under pressure to move beyond technical instruction and develop durable skills such as collaboration, communication, and critical thinking. Mass experiential learning is emerging as a scalable model to bridge the gap between academic training and employer expectations. The shift reflects a broader rethinking of what a college education should deliver in a changing workforce.

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By Ron Stefanski · June 4, 2025, 11:00 AM UTCAlana HeathHigher EducationHow to Change the World

Key takeaways

Employers increasingly require durable skills—collaboration, communication, critical thinking—that traditional classrooms often fail to develop.

Mass experiential learning offers a scalable approach to hands-on, skills-based education across large student populations.

Higher education institutions are being challenged to redesign curricula to align with real-world workforce demands.

Higher education is at a turning point. As employers demand more than technical proficiency, schools are being challenged to equip students with durable skills like collaboration, communication, and critical thinking. Traditional classroom models often fall short of this need. This shift has fueled growing interest in mass experiential learning as a way to prepare students for real-world challenges at scale. According to a recent survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), college graduates who engaged in experiential learning realize multiple early-career benefits, including higher salaries and greater career satisfaction.

So, how can institutions deliver transformative, skill-building experiences without sacrificing accessibility, affordability, or academic rigor?

Welcome to DisruptEd. In this episode, guest host Darin Francis speaks to Alana Heath, Co-founder and COO of How to Change the World, at the ASU+GSV Summit. Heath outlines how her organization delivers large-scale, interdisciplinary experiential learning using a custom-built technology platform—and how it’s changing what’s possible in higher education.

Key themes from the episode include:

Scalable experiential learning: How pairing pedagogy with custom-built tech enables meaningful, global, cross-disciplinary learning experiences at scale, advancing the potential of mass experiential learning.
Educator empowerment: Why professional development through their educator fellowship ensures schools can integrate and sustain experiential learning.
Skills that matter: How structured peer-to-peer interaction fosters teamwork, problem-solving, and adaptability—skills employers are actively seeking.

Alana Heath is an experienced social entrepreneur and operational leader with a strong background in edtech, impact investing, and sustainable energy finance. As Co-Founder and COO of How to Change the World, she is currently pioneering scalable experiential learning programs that address global challenges through education and technology. Her career spans leadership roles in financial inclusion, ESG impact reporting, and solar energy access across emerging markets, supported by her sustainability-focused MBA and deep cross-cultural project management experience.

Article written by MarketScale.