ASU Changing Futures®: ASU for Life

Change the future with ASU for Life

ASU for Life is changing futures Education isn’t just preparation for life.

It’s a companion for the journey.

In today’s rapidly changing world, life is rarely linear. New technologies and evolving market demands continuously reshape the skills required for professional success.

According to the World Economic Forum, nearly 60% of workers will require upskilling or reskilling by 2030 to meet evolving job requirements.

To ensure the economic vitality of both businesses and individuals, there is a growing need for innovative models of education that align lifelong learning with employeridentified skills gaps.

The moment requires a learning model just as unique as each person’s journey. Enter ASU for Life: a dynamic and personalized lifelong learning experience, powered by augmented intelligence and tailored to individual goals and market needs.

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CHANGING FUTURES | FROM ARIZONA. FOR THE WORLD.

ASU for Life creates opportunity for learners across backgrounds and across the lifespan, creating value for people and the economy.

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“I was able to connect with other ASU graduates and talk about topics that interest us in depth.

They also provide us with information on how to navigate life after college...

They make me feel like they’re just there holding my hand all the time.”

— Sandra Lee ASU alum

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CHANGING FUTURES | FROM ARIZONA. FOR THE WORLD.

Bridging the gap between learner and employer needs ASU for Life is flipping the script on traditional career preparation.

Too often, workforce programs react to learner-identified gaps rather than proactively aligning with employer needs.

A 2024 report from the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce found that many educational institutions fail to align their credentials with local labor market demands. Traditional education struggles to keep pace, leading to misaligned job pathways, underemployment, and costly hiring cycles.

ASU for Life changes that. This dynamic platform helps learners navigate career transitions with AI-driven insights, curated learning and peer networks. Unlike traditional models, it maps curricula and experiential learning to employer-identified skills, ensuring learners of all ages are prepared for real workforce demands. Community networks foster belonging through connections with peers and mentors, while personalized action plans help learners align education with long-term goals. By bridging education and employment, ASU for Life empowers learners at every stage to thrive in a changing job market.

Coordinating the pathways between education and employment can be daunting; AI and other technology help learners and employers to better connect with one another.

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Bridging gap to goals More than half of college graduates nationwide are underemployed, working jobs that don’t require their degree or leverage their full skillset. At the same time, technology is rapidly changing how people learn and work.

“One hundred and fifty years ago, electricity took 40 years to be adopted by a quarter of the U.S. population.

Two years ago, ChatGPT achieved that milestone in just about six months,” says Turner Bohlen, head of product at Arizona State University’s Learning Enterprise.

“As a result of that change, the journeys that people take to their job and through their learning are not consistent. We need to transform the way we offer job attainment-based learning to be a truly personalized path.”

ASU for Life is bridging training to work attainment to help every individual achieve economic mobility. Our customized, modular approach measures success by realworld outcomes and personal growth—a departure from the conventional model of large, bulk courses that measure success in credits completed. In this way, each student has the right resources at the right time to work toward their personal career goals.

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CHANGING FUTURES | FROM ARIZONA. FOR THE WORLD.

ASU for Life leverages technology to move away from one-size-fitsall approaches to learning; AI will enable truly personalized learning.

“I was expecting to get a job right out of school and it wasn’t happening.

The reason why is because I needed to learn how to interview…and I learned that from [ASU for Life]…

I’ve never had anyone help me like this before…I’m having a lot of success lately.”

— Christopher Bocchino ASU alum

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On the brink of an education revolution

“This is exactly the kind of community I was looking for…

Since I have joined, I have had a lot of great conversations, but I have also had a lot of automations that have allowed me to grow professionally, and I have become a lot more confident in my job search.”

— Aman Dadheech ASU alum

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CHANGING FUTURES | FROM ARIZONA. FOR THE WORLD.

In a six-week pilot of ASU for Life, 100% of participating learners provided positive feedback, 80% took concrete steps toward employment, and some even secured jobs during the span of the pilot. The results were clear: There is huge potential for a personalized learning approach — particularly when course content is paired with personalized mentoring and support.

“If you think about the perfect education experience — wouldn’t it be great if every single one of us had a person sitting next to us that teaches us how to, for example, learn a language or understand math?” says Patrick Rossol-Allison, associate vice president of strategic initiatives at ASU’s Learning Enterprise.

“The historical problem has been that’s super expensive and only very few individuals can afford that. But we are at a place now where technology has caught up, especially with artificial intelligence.

“We are now able to design solutions like ASU for Life…imagine what will happen as a result.”

Changing Futures will allow ASU for Life to further invest in its successful model, opening new opportunities as a result.

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Support ASU for Life and shape a better future Through Changing Futures®, we’ll build upon and scale what we started. We’ll continue rebuilding the infrastructure of higher education around personalized job-attainment pathways, creating a “learner genome” that will help us scale to millions of learners. Your support fuels an education revolution in which personalized learning, powered by AI, unlocks each individual’s unique potential.

By creating customized job attainment pathways, we can help people bridge skills gaps, discover their passions and achieve economic mobility.

Through accessible, personalized education journeys, we’re democratizing learning—and changing futures. Join us.

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CHANGING FUTURES | FROM ARIZONA. FOR THE WORLD.

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About us Success today depends on the ability to continuously learn and adapt. ASU’s Learning Enterprise expands universal access to opportunity for all learners, at every stage of life. From a college-preparatory school to dual enrollment, low-risk pathways to college, open and innovative online course offerings, specialized career certificates and lifelong learning opportunities, the Learning Enterprise programs ensure education is available and effective for everyone. With accessible digital learning tools and resources, we’re evolving the American research university model to maximize learning opportunities in today’s changing world.

ASU Charter ASU is a comprehensive public research university, measured not by whom it excludes, but by whom it includes and how they succeed; advancing research and discovery of public value; and assuming fundamental responsibility for the economic, social, cultural and overall health of the communities it serves.

asuchangingfutures.org

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CHANGING FUTURES | FROM ARIZONA. FOR THE WORLD.