The New American University

The challenges facing University Inc may ultimately usher in a new era of education. One where the role that elite universities have historically played as gatekeepers on knowledge, prestige and access begins to fall away and the very best education becomes available to any-and-all (with or without a fee). The world may ultimately end up having few... See more

Even as the cost of tuition increased, the value of university went unquestioned. Colleges bundled education and signaling. Students who thrived in boring classes signaled traits to employers, like conscientiousness, intelligence and conformity. Now, due to the proliferation of information on the internet and the rise of affordable and effective al... See more

This may be On Deck’s biggest advantage over traditional educational institutions: its willingness to experiment and try new things. The world is moving ever-faster. The ways for people to make a living are constantly expanding. The half-life of professional skills has fallen to five years. A modern educational institution needs to be able to serve... See more

Like mass media and mass commerce, the average university is on the brink of collapse. Its structure is a rotting legacy of the Industrial Age. For years, anybody who wanted to learn on their own lacked the means to do so. Now, anybody with an internet connection has access to information. Harvard and Stanford will be okay, but dark days are ahead ... See more

There’s a potential for change in higher ed, as momentum picks up for emerging hybrid models that distribute the risk between the student, the university and the employer.