Therefore, they need data literacy to read, analyze, and use these ever-rising tides of information. Technological literacy gives them a grounding in coding and engineering principles, so they know how their machines tick. Lastly, human literacy teaches them humanities, communication, and design, allowing them to function in the human milieu.

Higher education must broaden its view of whom to serve and when. It must serve everyone, no matter their stage in life.

In addition to relying on their university for continuous learning, alumni will also stay connected through the ongoing use of career services and other support, with the operation evolving from a social capacity to a functional one.

65 percent of children entering primary school today will eventually work in jobs that do not yet exist.28

Written communication and problem solving—skills more commonly attributed to a liberal arts education than a purely technical one—clocked in next at 70 percent.

According to a 2016 survey of employers, the skill cited as most desirable in recent college graduates is the very human quality of “leadership.” More than 80 percent of respondents said they looked for evidence of leadership on candidates’ résumés, followed by “ability to work in a team” at nearly 79 percent.

However, we need a new model of learning that enables learners to understand the highly technological world around them and that simultaneously allows them to transcend it by nurturing the mental and intellectual qualities that are unique to humans—namely, their capacity for creativity and mental flexibility. We can call this model humanics.14

Holistic, systems thinking is a quality needed in any complex operation.

In the future, graduates will need to build on the old literacies by adding three more—data literacy, technological literacy, and human literacy.