Tyton Partners Releases 2026 Time for Class Report, The AI Tipping Point: From Monitoring Students to Engaging Them
BOSTON, June 15, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tyton Partners, the leading strategy consulting and investment banking firm focused on education, today released Time for Class 2026, the latest edition of its annual research on digital learning in higher education. This year’s findings mark an important shift in the higher ed ecosystem: the conversation is moving beyond whether faculty and students are using generative AI and toward how institutions, instructors, and providers are redesigning teaching and learning to embrace it.
Developed with support from the Gates Foundation and D2L, Time for Class 2026 examines how faculty are leveraging AI-enabled tools, how faculty and administrators are reshaping AI policy in real-time, and how institutions are embedding more work-based learning into academic programs.
Based on responses from more than 3,300 students, instructors, and administrators at 850+ U.S. colleges and universities, Time for Class 2026 offers an in-depth view of how institutions are adapting pedagogy, course design, and student support to meet a more AI-enabled and career-focused future.
“The new bar for success is not just how well can you teach as proxied by something like your D/F/W rate, but rather how well can you motivate students. Success looks like creating engaging assignments that make students care about their own learning, rather than using AI as a crutch,” said Catherine Shaw, Associate Partner at Tyton Partners and a lead author on the report. “Our research shows that we are approaching a majority of faculty who are significantly changing practice. 47% of faculty have redesigned their assessments in response to AI and those who are leaning into innovative methods such as real-world projects and AI-enabled assignments are seeing higher student engagement.”
Key findings include:
- Institutional AI policies are evolving, with evidence that integration is more effective than restriction. 32% of institutions have a campus-wide policy in place, though just 23% of faculty consider policies effective. Faculty at institutions with policies that embrace AI are twice as likely to consider them effective compared to institutions that have bans
- An emerging cohort of AI “Integrators” are emerging, providing a template for effective assessment redesign. This segment represents 24% of all faculty and they are adopting innovative methods, including oral exams, interactive assignments with drafts/feedback, and student critiquing of AI outputs
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Career-connected learning has room to scale across classrooms. Only 12% of institutions have embedded career-connected learning across all undergraduate departments. The faculty who do prioritize workforce readiness (17%) are already behaving differently — spending more time on career advising and overwhelmingly agreeing (81%) that students need AI fluency for future jobs
“Higher education is in the midst of an unprecedented inflection point,” added Hadley Dorn, Senior Principal at Tyton Partners and co-author. “The debate isn’t whether to embrace AI, it’s how. Embedding AI literacy is an imperative for making students better learners today and more competitive in the job market upon graduation.”
Time for Class 2026 provides actionable recommendations for institutional leaders, instructors, and solution providers, with a focus on supporting faculty course redesign, embedding career-aligned learning experiences, and building a next-generation digital ecosystem centered on personalization and measurable outcomes.
Read Time for Class 2026 here.
Media Contact
Hadley Dorn
Senior Principal and Chief of Staff
hdorn@tytonpartners.com
Tyton Partners
About Tyton Partners
Tyton Partners is the leading provider of strategy consulting and investment banking services to the global knowledge and information services sector. With offices in Boston and New York City, the firm has an experienced team of bankers and consultants who deliver a unique spectrum of services from mergers and acquisitions and capital markets access to strategy development that helps companies, organizations, and investors navigate the complexities of the education, media, and information markets. Tyton Partners leverages a deep foundation of transactional and advisory experience and an unparalleled level of global relationships to make its clients’ aspirations a reality and to catalyze innovation in the sector. Learn more at tytonpartners.com.
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