For Whom Is College Being Reinvented?

Scott Carlson and Goldie Blumenstyk:

Last year, leading lights in for-profit and nonprofit higher education convened in Washington for a conference on private-sector innovation in the industry. The national conversation about dysfunction and disruption in higher education was just heating up, and panelists from start-ups, banking, government, and education waxed enthusiastic about the ways that a traditional college education could be torn down and rebuilt--and about how lots of money could be made along the way.

During a break, one panelist--a banker who lines up financing for education companies, and who had talked about meeting consumer demands in the market--made chitchat. The banker had a daughter who wanted a master's in education and was deciding between a traditional college and a start-up that offered a program she would attend mostly online--exactly the kind of thing everyone at the conference was touting.

For most parents, that choice might raise questions--and the banker was no exception. Unlike most parents, however, the well-connected banker could resolve those uncertainties, with a call to the CEO of the education venture: "Is this thing crap or for real?"

In higher education, that is the question of the moment--and the answer is not clear, even to those lining up to push for college reinvention. But the question few people want to grapple with is, For whom are we reinventing college?

Posted by Jim Zellmer at December 25, 2012 2:35 AM
Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas