The inaugural Lifetime Learning Symposium was held October 6-8, 2025.
The Symposium offered a unique opportunity for candid and meaningful conversations with educators and technologists from institutions across the higher education landscape.
Attendees explored the best practices and research that enables institutions to facilitate lifetime learning by creating, growing, and sustaining a variety of affordable programs, including at-scale degree or non-credit programs, alternative credentials, and the value proposition associated with lifetime learning programs. We also considered access to quality, impactful learning across the entire arc of one’s lifetime.
Inaugural dean presents keynote address
We are excited to share that William "Bill" Gaudelli, the College of Lifetime Learning's inaugural dean, served as the keynote speaker for this year's symposium.
Gaudelli’s presentation explored the emergence of lifetime learning as a strategic, interdisciplinary field — a field Georgia Tech is uniquely poised to lead — with a focus on the best practices and research that enables institutions to facilitate lifetime learning, and the value proposition associated with lifetime learning programs.
In addition to Gaudelli's keynote, this year’s event reflected the full arc of learner needs from kindergarten through post-retirement, and was structured around four themes that attendees explored:
- The value proposition of lifetime learning: Focused on return on investment, how programmatic outcomes are measured, and what their impacts are on institutions and society
- Affordable at-scale programs: Discussing the establishment of sustainable at-scale programs through the use of technology to reach large student populations
- Alternative credentials: An exploration into the challenges and opportunities in credentialing while accounting for widely dispersed, non-traditional learning, as well as nonlinear learning within traditional institutions
- Research in impactful online programs: Codifying and testing our understanding through experimentation, including how to maximize the benefits of a connected learning ecosystem that focuses less on broadcasting knowledge and more on how it is received and incorporated into learners’ lives
See You Again in 2026
Plans for the 2026 Lifetime Learning Symposium are underway.
We are excited to continue showcasing opportunities to network and learn from thought leaders and higher education experts, and will share more information in the coming months about our next symposium and its offerings.
We look forward to seeing you next year in Atlanta!