Colleges warn against AI shortcuts for nontraditional learners
Two large colleges that serve adult students are cautioning institutions against treating artificial intelligence as a turnkey solution to enrollment and retention challenges. Leaders from Southern New Hampshire University and the University of Phoenix said at the ASU+GSV Summit this week that successful AI implementation requires clear strategy before any technology purchase.
"There is no silver bullet," John Woods, provost and chief academic officer at the University of Phoenix, told conference attendees on Monday. "You've got to lead with strategy."
Strategy must come before products
Lisa Marsh Ryerson, president and CEO of Southern New Hampshire, said college officials should direct AI adoption, not let vendors drive decisions. The nonprofit, which serves over 189,000 students primarily online, does not simply buy product licenses and distribute them across campus.
Before selecting any tool, institutions need a clear vision of what they want AI to accomplish for students and faculty, according to Susan Winslow, CEO of Macmillan Learning, an education technology company that offers AI tools.
Woods noted that dozens of companies pitch AI tutoring solutions to colleges. "There's 40 companies out here who will hand you a business card and say they can put a tutor in every class," he said. "It's not quite that easy."
Ryerson added that institutions may need to hire engineering staff to support their AI tools. Winslow emphasized that selecting an AI tool is not a one-time decision - colleges should regularly review whether their AI usage aligns with institutional priorities and addresses potential cybersecurity risks.
Tutoring tools reach the wrong students
Many vendors market AI as a way to provide one-on-one instruction at scale. Chatbots and tutoring tools have proliferated, with major players like Google and Khan Academy launching their own versions.
But broadly available tutoring tools often fail to reach students who need help most. Woods said students who use these tools typically already earn strong grades - they want to move a B to an A, not catch up from behind.
Instead, colleges should embed AI tools into course curriculum rather than offering them as standalone options. At the University of Phoenix, which enrolls over 82,000 students, mental health counseling majors use AI chatbots to practice client conversations with faculty reviewing transcripts and providing feedback afterward. Education majors similarly use AI to rehearse parent-teacher conference scenarios.
In both cases, human oversight remains central. Students are not "just using AI for AI's sake," Woods said.
Personalization requires institutional readiness
Technology now makes it possible to offer personalized instruction - giving a law student and nursing student different lessons in the same history class, for example. But Woods cautioned that most colleges lack the infrastructure to execute this vision.
Institutions would need to understand what each student needs and when they need it. Few are currently equipped to manage that level of detail.
Colleges increasingly recruit adult learners to offset anticipated declines in traditional-aged student enrollment. These nontraditional students often have not attended formal education in years, creating distinct support challenges that some see AI for Education as a potential answer to - though not without debate about whether it could erode critical thinking skills.
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