Higher education for all

Universities are one of the oldest human institutions, enduring with essentially the same blueprint for a thousand years. Before the current COVID-19 pandemic, there was much talk about the promise of massive open online courses, distance learning, and other innovations to scale and expand the reach of universities, but with only limited success. Given the experience gained from educating during the pandemic, it is time for educators to ask which innovations can be introduced and, importantly, sustained, to expand the accessibility of higher education to meet the needs of the 21st century.