According to Jorge Klor de Alva's recent Educause Review article, higher education must dramatically adapt to meet changing workforce demands. The world is shifting from an overwhelming reliance on physical capital to a reliance on human capital, and the percentage of workers in service professions continues to escalate. Many of today's students are working adults who are endeavoring to adapt to this changing economy.
Important issues in higher education include expanding lifelong learning opportunities, providing asynchronous, distant access to education via technology, helping students learn to work in team environments, increasing collaboration with business and industry, integrating community experiences into academic programs, and outcomes-based education. Klor de Alva suggests guidelines for transforming higher education to better meet the need for citizens to "flourish in the changing global economic landscape."