Peak Higher Ed: How to Survive the Looming Academic Crisis

Bryan Alexander foresaw higher education’s “peak scenario” back in 2013, and now revisits that analysis in a world utterly changed with the effects of a pandemic, accelerated climate change, an unprecedented political assault on institutional autonomy, and the revolutionary impact of artificial intelligence. Alexander not only helps institutional leaders understand what is going on, but he offers valuable counsel for navigating these stormy seas.
―Paul LeBlanc, President Emeritus, Southern New Hampshire University

Alexander offers both a historical lens and forward-looking roadmap for navigating higher education’s post-peak landscape. In the process, he provides the tools for strategic resilience and a vision for how colleges and universities can adapt, innovate, and regain momentum in service to students and society.
―Lynn Pasquerella, President, American Association of Colleges and Universities

Bryan Alexander combines the foresight of a true futurist with the passion of a Biblical prophet. He sees the problems of higher education whole, and he charts the possible pathways forward with a clear sense of how these citadels of civilization can save themselves―and us in the process.
―Lee Rainie, Director of the Imagining the Digital Future, Elon University

There is no use in pretending that higher education will go on as before―there are too many demographic, political and financial challenges. But as the author makes clear in this fascinating book, once you accept that premise your mind is freed to consider (and work on) a whole host of possible outcomes, some of them strikingly beautiful.
―Bill McKibben, author of Here Comes the Sun

Bryan Alexander is a futurist, a builder of scenarios, a higher education activist, and both a practical and visionary thinker. In Peak Higher Education he does the near-impossible: supplying us with the data, research, and context for the present and unfolding “polycrisis” in higher education while offering sustainable, sane, and even practical suggestions not just for “managing descent” but using the context of this crisis to make valuable and productive changes in higher ed. Invaluable!
―Cathy N. Davidson, author of The New Education: How to Revolutionize the University to Prepare Students for a World in Flux

We cannot shape where we are heading without a clear-eyed assessment of where we are. With disciplined imagination, Peak Higher Education vividly lays out the possible futures for leaders who want to drive transformation with intention and hope.
―Randall Bass, Georgetown University

Peak Higher Ed is a vital and clarifying contribution to the conversation about higher education’s future. I found it hopeful without being naïve, critical without slipping into cynicism, and expansive in the uniquely grounded way that only a trusted futurist can achieve. In this book, Bryan Alexander widens our lens to examine multiple possible futures for higher education amid the forces reshaping our learning environments and our social, political, and ethical landscapes. What makes Peak Higher Ed so compelling is its refusal to settle for over-simplified utopias or dire dystopias. Instead, Alexander invites readers into rigorous inquiry, thoughtful scenario-building, and a courageous engagement with uncertainty. This is a book that challenges, edifies, and ultimately equips educators and leaders to think more clearly and more responsibly about what comes next.
―Bonnie Stachowiak, host of Teaching in Higher Ed