Editor’s note: This article is adapted from a conversation with Jay Roberts on the Illumination Podcast. To hear the full discussion, listen to the episode here.
Higher education is entering an era defined by complexity, shifting demographics, and rapidly evolving learner expectations. The old markers of institutional success—retention, graduation rates, and employment outcomes—still matter, but they no longer capture the full picture. Today’s learners want relevance, connection and proof that their investment leads to a meaningful life, not just a degree. And increasingly, they find those qualities through immersive, hands-on learning experiences.
Experiential learning has long roots in educational philosophy, stretching from John Dewey to contemporary research that affirms what many educators have always known: learning by doing fosters deeper engagement, stronger belonging, and better long-term outcomes. Three forces in particular make immersive environments so impactful—and so essential for higher education’s future.
Relevance Drives Engagement
Students are always tuned in to an internal frequency: What’s in it for me? When learning feels directly connected to a real need, goal or identity, motivation skyrockets. Experiential learning hits this relevance button immediately, whether students are in a community setting, conducting undergraduate research, completing internships, or participating in classroom simulations that mirror workforce realities. These moments help learners see why what they’re studying matters and how it translates into future aspirations.
This connection to purpose is especially critical at a time when career outcomes and ROI dominate public conversations about higher education. Immersive experiences allow students to test their skills, build confidence, and understand how their academic pathway sets the foundation for a meaningful life—not merely a job.
Multimodal Learning Meets Students Where They Are
Today’s students come to institutions with widely diverse learning backgrounds, needs, and strengths. Sitting in a lecture hall, staring at a slide deck, does little to support the full range of ways human beings learn. Hands-on environments, by contrast, align naturally with universal design for learning principles. They activate the body, encourage peer engagement, support visual and tactile learners, and invite students to take ownership over how they process information.
With more adult learners and working professionals returning to higher education—and with traditional 18–22-year-olds arriving with more varied levels of preparation—multimodality isn’t a luxury. It’s a necessity.
Belonging Is Built Through Collaboration
Belonging is among the most powerful predictors of persistence. Immersive learning environments tend to be collaborative by design: students take risks together, solve problems together, and make sense of unfamiliar situations together. This creates what some educators call “social glue”—the sense of connection that helps a classroom feel safe and energizing.
These collaborative moments form the foundation for stronger, more resilient learning communities. They also make institutions stand out. When students feel known, supported, and connected, they stay—and they return as lifelong learners.
Preparing Learners for an Unscripted World
We live in a world where problems are well known, but solutions are rarely straightforward. Students face complex decisions—about career, family, climate, community and purpose—that can’t be solved with memorization or multiple-choice assessments. Immersive learning introduces productive risk: navigating ambiguity, wrestling with uncertainty, and practicing problem-solving in real settings.
These unscripted experiences shape adaptability and confidence, two of the top skills employers now prioritize over GPA or major. In fact, employers consistently rank problem-solving and teamwork as the most valuable attributes in new hires—skills cultivated not through exams, but through hands-on work.
Rethinking Rigor and Rethinking Success
As immersive learning expands, academic leaders are re-evaluating long-held assumptions about rigor. Rigor isn’t defined by volume of content or the difficulty of exams. It can also look like the courage to speak up in class, the vulnerability required to collaborate, or the challenge of working with community partners whose needs are real and consequential.
Institutions embracing experiential learning are shifting focus from content coverage to uncovering student learning—creating space for depth, inquiry and authentic demonstration of understanding. That shift makes room for new definitions of student success as well.
One compelling framework is the “Big Six,” a Gallup-identified set of experiences linked to graduates who report meaningful lives and careers: having a caring professor, having a mentor who connects academics to career goals, completing a long-term project, participating in co-curricular activities, conducting research, and completing an internship. Only 3% of graduates report experiencing all six.
Imagine the impact if institutions made those experiences universal rather than exceptional.
The Future Belongs to Skill-Rich, Experience-Rich Learning
As higher education evolves, skill development will continue rising in importance. Employers are screening less for majors and more for demonstrable skills—problem-solving, communication, teamwork, adaptability. Experiential learning is one of the clearest pathways to building, practicing, and articulating those skills through real stories and real evidence.
This shift also expands the role of comprehensive learner records that capture learning in and out of the classroom, helping learners translate their experiences into career-ready narratives.
A Path Forward
Immersive, hands-on learning is no longer a pedagogical preference. It’s a transformational strategy for attracting, engaging, and retaining learners for life. It meets modern expectations, drives belonging, and equips learners with the skills and confidence to thrive in an unpredictable world. For institutions willing to embrace relevance, collaboration, and authentic experience, the future of higher education looks not only resilient, but remarkably human.
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