AASCU needed a strategic plan built for right now – not the higher-education landscape of the past.. Regional Public Universities (RPUs) educate the majority of the nation’s public four-year students, yet face enrollment declines, shifting perceptions of degree value, policy pressure, and shrinking resources. . The existing narrative and strategy were outdated, fragmented, and not keeping pace with the fast-moving realities of higher education.
AASCU needed a clear, modern, measurable plan that could unify members, inspire partners, and position RPUs as engines of economic mobility.
Good Rebellion partnered with AASCU to build AASCU NEXT — a future-focused strategic plan and narrative system that repositions RPUs as essential drivers of opportunity, workforce relevance, and community vitality; the future of American higher education.
Working directly with AASCU leadership, members, and boards, we created a unifying framework organized around three decisive pillars:
AASCU NEXT has been embraced by leadership and members nationwide — a forward-looking blueprint that brings clarity in a moment of uncertainty. It gives RPUs the story, structure, and strategy to lead America’s future, redefining how a national association plans for the next era of public higher education.
