What the evidence says about the future of learning
Analysis from the four WAC centres. Each article starts from a real event, weighs the best research on both sides and ends with what it means for universities, educators and edtech leaders.
Harvard Capped the A. History Says the Hard Part Comes Next
After six in ten grades became A's, Harvard's faculty voted 458 to 201 to ration the top mark from fall 2027. Princeton and Wellesley tried to hold grades down before, and both gave up.
AI Tutors Have Beaten Good Teaching and Cut Grades. Design Decides Which
Malaysia's 20 public universities have enabled Gemini for nearly 600,000 students, Google says. Randomized trials show AI tutors can double learning gains or cut exam scores, depending on how they are set up.
Companies Dropped the Degree Requirement. Most Hired Graduates Anyway.
Coursera and Udemy have merged on the promise of a skills-first job market. Hiring records show employers changed their job ads far more than their hires, and the missing piece is trusted proof of skill.
The Big Four Narrowed the Door Together. Students Are Finding Others.
Australia, Canada, the UK and the US have all tightened student entry since 2024. New study visas across the four fell about 38 percent in two years, while Germany, Japan and South Korea kept growing.
AI Detectors Can Miss Machines and Accuse Humans. Assessment Has to Change
Two Singapore universities are switching off AI detectors, as others abroad have done. Studies have found such tools missing most AI writing and misjudging second-language students. What replaces them is harder to run.
The First Rung Is Narrowing: What the Data Say About AI and Graduate Jobs
US graduate unemployment did not spike in summer 2026, yet payroll records show a widening gap for young workers in AI-exposed jobs. Both findings can be true, and universities should act on where they overlap.
EdTech Funding Fell 89%. What Still Gets Funded Looks Very Different
Reach Capital's new $265 million fund is not a return to 2021. Global EdTech venture funding has fallen by almost nine-tenths, and what remains favors AI tools sold to employers and institutions that can show results.
The Campus Now Comes to the Student. Staying Open Is the Hard Part
India and the Gulf are inviting foreign universities in while US student visas tighten. The record of the world's 384 branch campuses shows survival depends on realistic enrollment plans and on politics at both ends.
The Test Is Back: Why Elite Universities Stopped Trusting Grades Alone
All eight Ivy League universities have now decided to require the SAT or ACT again. Dartmouth's data suggest test-optional admission hurt some disadvantaged applicants, yet FairTest counts nine in ten US colleges as still not requiring scores.
The $2 Billion Bet Against the College Major
Carnegie Mellon will spend $2 billion of a record $3 billion gift on a Miami campus organized around societal challenges, not majors. Research backs the teaching method far more firmly than the structure.
Spotlight articles are written by the WAC editorial team. Every factual claim is tied to a numbered source listed at the end of the article, and direct quotations are kept short and exact. Opinions appear only under “The WAC view”. To suggest a correction, contact us.
Earlier reports and essays
- Skills Gap Report 2025 (WAC Annual Report)Annual report
- Reimagining EducationOpinion
- WAC blog archiveEarlier posts
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WAC News publishes short, sourced summaries of what universities, education companies and investors are announcing.