Furcolo maintained an interest in higher education after his departure from elective politics. While a United States Representative he secured the passage of legislation offering loans to needy students, and while governor he enacted significant reforms in the state's university system, granting the individual schools in the system fiscal autonomy. In 1973 he was hired as a full-time professor of public service, working across the entire state college system. He served for many years on the state's board of regents, which was responsible for overseeing the state-run institutions of higher learning. In this capacity, he was often a minority voice in seeking to improve the state's colleges and universities. Because he was dissatisfied with that body's work, in 1981 he supported the formation of an advocacy group to lobby for improvements.