Welcome to this edition of the Co-Lab Brief. In this issue of The Co-Lab Brief, we ask:
How can universities reimagine the gateway to higher education as a bridge — not a barrier?
The profile of the university learner is ever-evolving. Nontraditional learners, working professionals, and displaced learners in conflict zones, continue to challenge and reshape the demand against long-standing assumptions about preparation, credentials, and access. The question is no longer simply who qualifies for entry, but how institutions design the crossing. If the gateway to higher education functions as a bridge, it must connect lived experience to formal recognition — linking potential to opportunity without collapsing standards.
In this issue of The Co-Lab Brief, we feature a recent report on Alternative Admissions authored by ASU’s Learning Enterprise and the University Design Institute. As alternative routes expand, the central challenge for university leaders is no longer whether access should widen, but how to institutionalize bridge-based models with clarity, credibility, and mission alignment.
We also explore contexts where that bridge is already under construction. On the Thailand–Myanmar border, Migrant Learning Centers create structured pathways for displaced youth to access recognized credentials and, ultimately, university study. In Malaysia, Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) enables working adults to translate professional expertise into academic credit. Together, these models illustrate how institutions can widen participation while maintaining academic rigor.
Featured Report
The following report, Reimagining Access: Advancing Broad-Based Admissions in Higher Education, is a call to action to rethink traditional admissions processes in order to expand access, equity, and student success. The report’s insights and recommendations emerged from a year-long collaboration between ASU’s Learning Enterprise and the University Design Institute to understand the current alternative admissions landscape and identify a set of alternative admissions archetypes that can serve as a resource for universities interested in building their own pathways.
Bridges to Higher Education in Conflict Zones
Education in conflict-affected regions and displacement settings presents complex challenges. Many of these potential learners face severe barriers to accessing accredited and continuous education. On the Thailand–Myanmar border, migrant students with limited documentation, unstable legal status, and economic precarity often find that formal admissions systems are designed for stability they have never had. When transcripts are missing, language differs, or mobility is uncertain, the “gateway” to higher education can quietly close. In this context, Migrant Learning Centers (MLCs) function as critical bridges—connecting displaced learners to formal credentials and higher education opportunities that would otherwise remain out of reach.
In response to the growing needs of migrant communities, civil society organizations developed alternative education pathways. The Mae Tao Clinic established the Children’s Development Center (CDC) to support migrant children along the border. While the CDC itself is not formally accredited as a traditional public school, it enables students to access recognized qualifications through partnerships.
Along the border, civil society organizations have created such pathways. The Mae Tao Clinic’s Children’s Development Center (CDC), one of several MLCs, works with Thailand’s Non-Formal Education system and partners including BEAM and Thabay Education Foundation to provide recognized secondary credentials. Though not a public school, the CDC enables students to complete Pre-GED and GED pathways that lead to internationally recognized qualifications and access to university study.
Further Learning:
> Resilience, Exploring Alternative Schools in Southeast Asia
Experience as Credential: WOU and Malaysia’s APEL Pathway
Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) is a recent innovation in Malaysia’s higher education system. Introduced in 2011 by the Malaysia Qualifications Agency (MQA) as “Open Entry,” it created a pathway for individuals with substantial work experience, but without formal academic qualifications, to access university study. In 2016, the framework was formalized and strengthened as APEL, establishing a national structure for admission and credit recognition based on experiential learning.
Wawasan Open University (WOU) is one of four Malaysian institutions authorized to administer APEL assessments. Rather than relying solely on traditional academic credentials, WOU evaluates applicants through aptitude testing, portfolio review, and faculty interviews to determine how professional experience aligns with program learning outcomes. In practice, this has allowed some applicants, such as candidates in WOU’s Master of Education program, to receive exemptions of up to four courses based on prior learning.
As a relatively new assessment mechanism, APEL remains modest in scale and unevenly understood within Malaysia’s higher education landscape. Institutions administering it must develop benchmarks, build assessment capacity, and generate evidence to support consistency and credibility. The model raises broader questions about how universities recognize learning that occurs outside formal classrooms, and how admission systems evolve when experience is treated as a form of knowledge.
Further Learning:
> Wawasan Open University, Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL)
More to read:
Location:
Design Imperative:
We want to hear from you.
Our Next Edition:
In our April edition, we shift our focus to the future of U.S. higher education and the structural forces shaping its next decade. We ask:
What would it take to radically redesign U.S. higher education over the next ten years…and what stands in the way?
Engage with The Co-Lab by responding, contributing or posing new questions by connecting with us.