Q&A: Evolution of Liberal Arts Programs in the Age of AI

(TNS) — We spoke with Randolph-Macon College President Michael Hill about the forces shaping higher education and how his institution is navigating them.The conversation touches on what has driven recent enrollment growth at Randolph-Macon, and how the college has tried to balance continuity in its mission with change in offerings.Hill started his tenure as Randolph-Macon's 16th president in 2025. Before that he was president of Chautauqua Institution in western New York and is a first-generation college graduate of St. Bonaventure University in Cattaraugus County New York.

We also asked him to look ahead at the future of the liberal arts in a period defined by rapid technological change and uncertainty about the job market. His answers speak to how colleges are thinking about relevance, skills, and the role of human-centered education.Finally, we discussed the broader value of a college degree and how leaders respond to growing skepticism about whether higher education is worth the cost.Q: Given that many small liberal arts schools are facing enrollment challenges, Randolph-Macon has grown. What’s driving that success?

Hill: I think it's broadly a couple things. One, it is an institution that has had an enduring mission and it's stuck to it. I think so many institutions that veer away from who they are and who they're intended to be often get in trouble, and we have not.Our enduring mission has not only been timeless, but it's timely, and so I think that's part of it.The other — and I give all of the folks who were here before I got here credit for doing some smart things — is that while we've stayed true to our liberal arts core, we've also added some in-demand majors and areas of focus that have kept up with what society needs for future graduates.Q: Looking five to 10 years ahead, do you think the traditional small liberal arts college remains viable, or does it need to evolve?Hill: I think it's both, and I've always been bullish about a liberal arts education. I think the pendulum is swinging back to make this a heyday for liberal arts education.There was a period of time in American higher education where many were focused on what's the latest career and how do we prep someone for it. That put a lot of pressure on traditional liberal arts educations, which emphasize depth and breadth of a lot of different types of knowledge.In some ways, this period of time we find ourselves in, where everyone's favorite topic du jour is AI, we've heard from industry folks that what we teach in the liberal arts is profoundly critical to what's needed in this emerging economy.We teach students how to synthesize information, to deal with ambiguity. We teach teamwork, collaboration and communication. Those are essential skills that technology doesn't erase.That said, I've also said to colleagues and friends, if we think that the latest and only advance coming our way is AI, we're delusional. We don't even know what's coming next. I think Randolph-Macon will continue to evolve and adapt.Q: How do you make the case that a liberal arts education is worth the investment as skepticism about the value of a college degree grows?Hill: Let me back into it by not ducking the hardest part of the question, which is I think the critique of higher ed is fair.I think colleges should be asking themselves the question about how they are serving young people. I think we should always question the cost-benefit analysis, and we do that here. I'm fine with the critique, and I think you're right to raise it because, whether we like it or not, it's there.I think this is the time to reinvest in the humanities. This is the time to help people understand nuance that comes from studying things like the humanities while they're studying nursing, cybersecurity and other things that may seem more topical.Higher ed is going to have to reckon with what it was created to do and who it serves. The conversation we're having at Randolph-Macon College that I love is we recognize that for any young person who wants a better life, education is one of the surest ways to get there.Even in the U.S., where there's a lot of critique of higher ed, if you look at all of the analytical data of earnings, you still earn more if you have a college degree. Period. Full stop.I think we have to rise to this moment to demonstrate to people why coming to a place like Randolph-Macon is still a good use of your dollar. If we do that right, it's not just that we got you your first job — we set you up not only for careers but for a solid life.Q: College presidencies are tough. There are pressures from a lot of different people. Why does anyone want to do this job today?Hill: I think it is a complicated job, but I think that's one of the things that makes it a joy.I can only answer for why did I show up, because I think each of us show up in these roles for different reasons.I'm a first-generation college student. College, in particular my undergraduate degree, was the beginning of a transformation of my life. It was the driver that changed everything.I did not come from an affluent family. I did not come from a family of privilege. College changed everything for me.I come back to want to serve alongside my colleagues at this college because I still believe that's true. Regardless of your station in life, I believe that an undergraduate degree — and then, if you so choose, other degrees after that — are one of the surest ways to transform your life into something positive.The pressures of the job, if you come to it for the right reasons, are just like any other job.We just had commencement. Each of those young people that crossed the stage erases any pressure that comes from sitting in this chair. Full stop.Q: Why do you think it's important to help students engage with people they disagree with as part of their education?Hill: One of the things that I love about colleges is that they are incredible petri dishes or laboratories for what's happening in society.While historians will tell you that the country has always been tugging and pulling at one another, the depth of polarization in the nation right now is significant.I believe we have an obligation to educate young people to dialogue across difference, to engage with others that don't think like them, because if they do that, we know society will be better.For all of the predictions that the world is coming to an end — climate change, the advent of AI, political dysfunction — the answer to so many of those things is helping members of society come together and tackle problems together.They can't do that if they don't understand what it means to engage someone who thinks differently than they do.That's precisely what college is set up for. We are set up to present you with ideas that challenge you, not to tell you what to think, but to teach you how to think.Q: Graduates are entering a workforce where AI is becoming part of everyday life. What skills do you think will matter most in 2030?Hill: I think I'll slightly change your question, which is every reporter's favorite thing.I don't know that these are skills that didn't matter 10 years ago. I think they matter more and differently now.Things like communication always mattered. Things like being able to deal with ambiguity always mattered. In an era in which so many baseline functions are moving toward automation with AI, I think they matter more.I had an opportunity to be at a convening in Italy recently on moral leadership, and there was a parallel convening with executives from AI companies.I asked them, "What do you think we most should be preparing students to do? What are the majors of tomorrow?"They emphasized the humanities.One of the trustees of the college recently said, "Do an AI search on Randolph-Macon College." A good chunk of what AI spit back had no basis in reality.If you are a person who doesn't understand how to look at the output of something like AI and discern that which is true, discern whether an argument makes sense, discern whether something is fact or a weird amalgamation of data, AI isn't the tool we're pretending it is.The core of that is a human being interpreting, discerning and understanding what to do with that information.As I think about what I hope our graduates leave with, it is those skills and abilities to look at something that appears polished and say: there's an error in logic here, there's an error in factual information here, these ideas don't go together.That's something only a human being can do.Q: Your golden retriever, Wilbur, was elected Ashland's dog mayor. What is his governing philosophy, and what does a typical day in the life of a dog mayor look like?Hill: He ran on a platform of positivity, of course.What I love about our dog mayor is that he is, at his heart, a convener. That's what he does well.He brings people together. He reminds people that there's not much in the world that can't be fixed with a good pet of a golden retriever.And if you're resisting that, he'll lean on you until you believe it.I suspect much like parents would say the kids are running the house, I will simply say that when he is in the room, people are happier. When he is not, there's disappointment that they get just me.© 2026 Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.