cost of getting an education

College crackup and the online future — from bloomberg.com by Mark C. Taylor

College Crackup

Illustration by Keith Shore

Excerpt:

In the coming decade, emerging technologies will thoroughly transform higher education. Although distance learning and computer-assisted education have been around since the 1960s, financial pressures are forcing institutions to develop aggressive online programs.

…

These practical considerations shouldn’t overshadow one of the most promising innovations that online education will bring: The very structure of knowledge will change.

…

As students mix and match courses online, pressure will increase for professors to develop classes that integrate different approaches and disciplines.

Also see:

Business model innovation: A blueprint for higher education — from businessinnovationfactory.com by Christine Flanagan, BIF’s Student Experience Lab Director. This article is featured in the December 2012 issue of the EDUCAUSE Review.
Designing colleges for more than just connectivity — from fastcoexist.com by Maddy Burke-Vigeland

From DSC:
Creating “Innovation Labs” within each institution of higher education sounds like a good idea to me…we can experiment with things at smaller scales and see what works and what doesn’t.

Also see:
Take a lesson from Apple: A strategy to keep customers in your ecosystem — from forbes.com by Alonzo Canada

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

1.     Set focused, strategic targets.
2.     Create a portfolio of experiments. Like Apple or Mercedes Benz, once you have focused, strategic targets set, create a series of experiments. A general rule of thumb is the 7-2-1 rule: one experiment should be big and relatively safe. Two experiments should be slightly more risky and moderately sized. Then seven experiments should be highly risky and low cost. These experiments can be scaled accordingly across teams, business units, and the entire company. 3M is one of the first companies to mandate that its employees spend 20% of their time thinking up blue sky ideas beyond its current lines of business and this is how Post-It Notes were born. Art Fry, an engineer at 3M wanted to find a better way to manage notes in his hymnal on Sundays at church.
3.    Leverage learnings to inform new experiments.

Tagged with: business side of he • CFHE12 • cost of getting an education • dangers of the status quo • Daniel S. Christian • digital learning • disruption • experimentation • future of higher education • game-changing environment • higher education • innovation • new business models in he • online learning • reinvent • staying relevant • Walmart of Education

Average student debt climbs to $26,600 for Class of 2011 [TICAS]

On 11/08/2012, in cost of getting a degree, experimentation, new business models, reinvent, staying relevant, student-related, United States, by Daniel Christian

Average student debt climbs to $26,600 for Class of 2011 — from The Institute for College Access & Success
Report, website include state-by-state and campus-by-campus debt levels for 2011 graduates

Excerpt:

TICAS recently released Student Debt and the Class of 2011, our seventh annual report on the debt carried by new college graduates. Hundreds of news outlets around the country have already run stories featuring our findings, including The New York Times, USA Today, and PBS NewsHour.

We found that two-thirds of college seniors who graduated from public and private nonprofit four-year schools in 2011 carried an average of $26,600 in student loan debt, up 5% from the previous year. Private student loans comprised about one-fifth of the Class of 2011’s debt. Meanwhile, unemployment for recent graduates dipped from last year’s peak of 9.1% but remained high at 8.8% (still less than half the unemployment rate for young adults with only a high school diploma).

The report also shows that average student debt levels vary widely by state as well as by college. To view debt levels for all 50 states plus the District of Columbia and more than 1,000 individual U.S. colleges and universities, visit our companion interactive map.

Read the press release
Read the report
Use the interactive map

From DSC:
The above items support the need for greater experimentation within higher ed.

Also see:

How Online Courses Can Form a Basis for On-Campus Teaching — from Daphne Koller
Stretching the higher education dollar — and also this page — from aei.org by Andrew P. Kelly, Kevin Carey

Tagged with: CFHE12 • cost of getting an education • experimentation • reinvent • staying relevant • student-related • United States

Harrison College lowering tuition — an excellent example/direction if we want to stay relevant

On 11/06/2012, in budgets, business, colleges, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, economics, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, leadership, reinvent, society, staying relevant, strategy, United States, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

Tagged with: budgetary • CFHE12 • colleges • cost of getting an education • dangers of the status quo • Daniel S. Christian • economics/business • future of higher education • game-changing environment • higher education • leadership • reinvent • society • staying relevant • strategy • student-related • United States • vision

MOOCs for credit [Kolowich]

On 10/29/2012, in business side of he, cost of getting a degree, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, new business models, by Daniel Christian

MOOCs for credit — from InsideHigherEd.com by Steve Kolowich

Excerpt:

Coursera, the largest provider of massive open online courses (MOOCs), has entered into a contract to license several of the courses it has built with its university partners to Antioch University, which would offer versions of the MOOCs for credit as part of a bachelor’s degree program.

The deal represents one of the first instances of a third-party institution buying permission to incorporate a MOOC into its curriculum — and awarding credit for the MOOC — in an effort to lower the full cost of a degree for students. It is also a first step for Coursera and its partners toward developing a revenue stream from licensing its courses.

Tagged with: cost of getting an education • MOOCs • new business models in he

“The Walmart of Education” appears to be materializing in front of our eyes [Christian]

On 10/27/2012, in 21st century, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, future of higher education, game-changing environment, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, reinvent, staying relevant, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
“The Walmart of Education [Christian, 2008]” appears to be materializing in front of our eyes.

Via: OnlineUniversities.com

Tagged with: 21st century • CFHE12 • cost of getting an education • dangers of the status quo • Daniel S. Christian • future of higher education • game-changing environment • reinvent • staying relevant • Walmart of Education

Tagged with: business side of he • cost of getting an education • financial aid • grants • student-related

Mindblowing implications!!! “IBM’s Watson expands commercial applications, aims to go mobile”

On 10/18/2012, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, analytics, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Deep Learning / Algorithms, convergence, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, digital learning, disruption, education technology, elearning, emerging technologies, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, internet, K-12 related, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, lifelong learning, mobile learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, online learning, online tutoring, personalized/customized learning, smart/connected TV, trends, ubiquitous learning, by Daniel Christian

IBM’s Watson expands commercial applications, aims to go mobile — from singularityhub.com by Jason Dorrier

From DSC:
This relates to what I was trying to get at with the posting on mobile learning. I would add the word “Education” to the list of industries that the technologies encapsulated in Watson will impact in the future. Combine this with the convergence that’s enabling/building the Learning from the Living [Class] Room environment, and you have one heck of an individualized, data-driven, learning ecosystem that’s available 24 x 7 x 365 — throughout your lifetime!!!

Also relevant here are some visions/graphics I created from 2012 and from 2008:

The Living [Class] Room -- by Daniel Christian -- July 2012 -- a second device used in conjunction with a Smart/Connected TV

Tagged with: 1:1 • 21st century • 24x7x365 • AI • analytics • CFHE12 • convergence • cost of getting an education • customized learning • dangers of the status quo • Daniel S. Christian • data mining • disruption • emerging technologies • future • future of higher education • game-changing environment • homeschooling/homeschoolers • innovation • intelligent systems • intelligent tutoring • Learning Agents • learning ecosystem • learning from the living [class] room • learning preferences • Lifelong learning • Mobile learning • MOOCs • more choice more control • online learning • online tutoring • personalized learning • Smart/Connected TV • trends • ubiquitous learning • Walmart of Education

Some items re: the business of higher ed

On 10/16/2012, in business side of he, changing business models, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, by Daniel Christian

First university system joins edX — from by Tanya Roscorla

Excerpt:

Huge online courses will be coming to the University of Texas System next year, the system announced Monday, Oct. 15.

Who’s investing in ed-tech?: Tech investors and their education portfolios — from hackeducation.com by Audrey Watters

Excerpt:

Below is by no means a complete list of technology investors who have education companies in their portfolio. Nor is it a list of the “top” or the “best” or the “most profitable” or “most active” ones, although for what it’s worth the list does match closely the answer on Quora to “Who are the top (active) VCs in the education technology space?”

Student loan default rates jump — from money.cnn.com by Blake Ellis
The Department of Education said 218 schools had three-year default rates of 30% or more, putting the schools at risk of losing their federal student aid.

Excerpt:

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Borrowers are having a harder time repaying their student loans.

The percentage of borrowers who defaulted on their federal student loans within two years of their first payment jumped to 9.1% in fiscal year 2011, up from 8.8% the previous year, according to U.S. Department of Education data released Friday.

Too high a price? — from InsideHigherEd.com by Kevin Kiley

Excerpt:

Grinnell College, which this year reported the fifth-largest endowment of any liberal arts college, announced Thursday that it would spend the next few months engaged in a conversation with campus stakeholders about changing its financial aid policies – including potentially, but probably not, going as far as making changes to need-blind admission. That makes it the second high-profile liberal arts college, following Wesleyan University this summer, to broach the topic in recent months.

Grinnell’s announcement stands out for two major reasons. Grinnell is one of the wealthiest liberal arts colleges in the country, so the idea that it would view its current financial aid model as unsustainable could be a bellwether that the sector as a whole is reconsidering the model. Second, the college’s administrators are taking an unusually public approach to a discussion that arouses strong emotions, trying to educate all campus constituents on why they think change might be necessary and hoping that, in doing so, they can mollify potential critics.

Addendums/also see:

White House: FY 2012 Deficit $1.089 Trillion — from finance.yahoo.com
Higher Ed Shrinks — from InsideHigherEd.com by Doug Lederman
Let’s make a deal— from InsideHigherEd.com by Kevin Kiley
What’s driving debt — from InsideHigherEd.com by Kevin Kiley
Excerpt:
In a new paper released by the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute, University of Richmond business professor James Monks finds that when it comes to getting burdened by debt, the increase in price isn’t an innocent bystander, but it has several accomplices, particularly the admissions and financial aid policies at a given institution.
Pearson doubles down online — from InsideHigherEd.com by Doug Lederman
Apollo Group to close 25 University of Phoenix campuses — from bizjournals.com
Excerpt:
The majority of its 328,400 students take classes online, which means those campuses aren’t in demand, said Alex Clark, spokesman for the Phoenix-based Apollo (Nasdaq: APOL). Plans call for closing 115 locations, impacting 13,000 students. Of those, 90 are learning centers and 25 are campuses. Following the closure, 112 locations in 36 states will remain.

Tagged with: cost of getting an education • new business models in he • student-related • Walmart of Education

Apple TV and the transformation of web apps into tablet and TV dual screen apps [Allaire]

On 10/04/2012, in Apple, Bring your own device (BYOD), change, changing business models, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, computer science, convergence, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, Daniel S. Christian, education technology, educational games / serious games, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, future of higher education, game-changing environment, immersion, innovation, interactivity, learner profiles, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning spaces, lifelong learning, machine-to-machine communications, mirroring and/or multiple devices, mobile learning, mobile technologies, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new media literacies, online learning, online media, online tutoring, personalized/customized learning, second screen apps, smart/connected TV, social learning / networks, streams of content, student-related, tablets, technologies for your home, telepresence, television, transmedia, trends, videoconferencing, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, web-based collaboration, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Apple TV and the transformation of web apps into tablet and TV dual screen apps — from brightcove.com by Jeremy Allaire

Excerpts:

Importantly, designers and developers need to shed the concept that “TVs” are for rendering video, and instead think about “TVs” as large monitors on which they can render applications, content and interactivity that is supported by a touch-based tablet application.

…

The key concept here is that this pervasive adoption of TV monitors is the tip of the spear in creating a social computing surface in the real world.

…

Specifically, Apple has provided the backbone for dual screen apps, enabling:

Any iOS device (and OSX Mountain Lion-enabled PCs) to broadcast its screen onto a TV. Think of this as essentially a wireless HDMI output to a TV. If you haven’t played with AirPlay mirroring features in iOS and Apple TV, give it a spin, it’s a really exciting development.

A set of APIs and an event model for enabling applications to become “dual screen aware” (e.g. to know when a device has a TV screen it can connect to, and to handle rendering information, data and content onto both the touch screen and the TV screen).

…
[Jeremy listed several applications for these concepts: Buying a house, buying a car, doctor’s office, kids edutainment, the classroom, retail electronics store, consuming news, consuming video, sales reporting, board games.]

Also see:

Building a dual screen video application with App Cloud

From DSC:
Graphically speaking — and approaching this from an educational/learning ecosystems standpoint — I call this, “Learning from the Living [Class] Room.

An excellent question that needs to be answered. “How are accreditors being a roadblock to innovation?”

On 10/02/2012, in accreditation, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, higher education, innovation, by Daniel Christian

From Mr. MOOC Comes to Washington — from InsideHigherEd.com by Paul Fain

Tagged with: accreditation • cost of getting an education • dangers of the status quo • Daniel S. Christian • higher education • innovation

Tagged with: cost of getting an education • higher education • student-related

Why these kids get a free ride to college [Fishman]

On 09/14/2012, in budgets, cost of getting a degree, hearts -- matters of the heart, higher education, K-12 related, Michigan, society, by Daniel Christian

Excerpt:

Back in November 2005, when this year’s graduates were in sixth grade, the superintendent of Kalamazoo’s public schools, Janice M. Brown, shocked the community by announcing that unnamed donors were pledging to pay the tuition at Michigan’s public colleges, universities and community colleges for every student who graduated from the district’s high schools. All of a sudden, students who had little hope of higher education saw college in their future. Called the Kalamazoo Promise, the program — blind to family income levels, to pupils’ grades and even to disciplinary and criminal records — would be the most inclusive, most generous scholarship program in America.

Also see:

From DSC:

I would like to thank the anonymous donors who created and continue to sustain the Kalamazoo Promise; and to recognize their humility and service to society. They didn’t announce their gifts with trumpets; rather, they quietly gave without wanting to put their names to these enormous, life-changing gifts. What a great example for many of the nation’s top 1%-5% to follow! It’s amazing what generous hearts can do. The LORD knows who did it and continues to do it.

Tagged with: budgetary • cost of getting an education • financial aid • grants • hearts -- matters of the heart • higher education • K-12 • Michigan • society

Reflections on “College may never be the same” [Marklein]

On 09/13/2012, in 24x7x365 access, cost of getting a degree, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, higher education, innovation, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, online learning, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

College may never be the same — from USA Today by Mary Beth Marklein

Excerpt:

“The industry has operated more or less along the same business model and even the same technology for hundreds of years,” says John Nelson, managing director of Moody’s Higher Education. “MOOCS represent a rapidly developing and emerging change and that is very, very rare.”

In a new report, Moody’s Investor Service calls MOOCs a “pivotal development” that has the potential to revolutionize higher education. Questions remain whether these online courses can be profitable and whether traditional colleges will award credit for them. But if successful, MOOCs could lead to lower costs for families and access to higher-quality instruction for anyone in the world who has Internet access.

From DSC:
MOOCs are no doubt a very important experiment within higher education today. It’s too early to tell what the future will bring in terms of pricing, certification/accredidation, learning effectiveness, the form(s) they may take, the corporate world’s perspective on them, etc.

However, my main point that I want to make today — September 13, 2012 — is that MOOCs provide yet another example why the question of “where’s the ROI on all of this investment in technology?” should be considered a dead question — let’s put it to rest for good. I simply can’t take that question seriously anymore. At minimum, MOOCs provide an extremely affordable means of gaining exposure to information and ascertaining one’s interest level in that subject. At the price of higher education these days, such knowledge of what one enjoys and would like to learn more about is worth a great deal. MOOCs rest on the foundations set by so many other investments, technological advancements and inventions, trends, platforms, devices, and the pedagogies available to us due to these other foundational pieces.

Tagged with: 24x7x365 • cost of getting an education • future of higher education • game-changing environment • Global learning • higher education • innovation • MOOCs • online learning • web-based collaboration

Technology and the broken higher education cost model: Insights from the Delta Cost Project [Kirshstein & Wellman]

On 09/11/2012, in budgets, business side of he, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, innovation, new business models, reinvent, by Daniel Christian

Technology and the broken higher education cost model: Insights from the Delta Cost Project — from Educause by Rita Kirshstein and Jane Wellman

Excerpt:

Although U.S. higher education has faced numerous crises and dilemmas in its history, the situation in which colleges and universities find themselves at the moment is indeed different. Shrinking public subsidies coupled with historic rises in tuitions come at the same time that colleges and universities have been tasked to dramatically increase the number of individuals with postsecondary degrees. Additionally, many of these students need financial aid, putting further strains on the higher education system. The stratification between rich and poor institutions in their access to resources is also growing. These conditions make the current “cost model” under which higher education has typically operated no longer sustainable and have led to college and university leaders examining alternative ways to deliver both high-quality and affordable higher education. These alternatives incorporate technology and include access to distance-delivered education and services, a focus on learners’ outcomes rather than inputs, and technologically sophisticated buildings and classrooms.

The changes are welcome and largely overdue in much of higher education, but unless the use of technology, whether in instruction or in the operation of the institution, is guided by an understanding of higher education costs and cost structures, its use will not fix the problem of a broken higher education cost model. This problem is not confined to the way that instruction is funded and delivered; rather, it is much broader, including the costs of academic and administrative overhead and the largely unexamined “fixed costs” that drive so much of institutional spending. To implement technological innovations that can improve both efficiency and effectiveness, leaders must be guided in their efforts by a strong understanding of the impact of the innovations on both costs and revenues, as well as on learning outcomes. Without this understanding, leaders are likely to follow the usual model of innovation in higher education: implementing program add-ons, which are sometimes successful and sometimes not but which inevitably increase costs rather than replacing or reducing them and ultimately fail to take hold in ways that will leverage systemic improvements.

Tagged with: budgetary • business side of he • cost of getting an education • dangers of the status quo • Daniel S. Christian • future of higher education • game-changing environment • higher education • innovation • new business models in he • reinvent

Debt collectors cashing in on student loans [Martin]

On 09/10/2012, in budgets, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, reinvent, society, staying relevant, student-related, United States, by Daniel Christian

Debt collectors cashing in on student loans — from the New York Times by Andrew Martin

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

…many borrowers are struggling to pay off their student loans, and the debt collection industry is cashing in.

As the number of people taking out government-backed student loans has exploded, so has the number who have fallen at least 12 months behind in making payments — about 5.9 million people nationwide, up about a third in the last five years.

In all, nearly one in every six borrowers with a loan balance is in default. The amount of defaulted loans — $76 billion — is greater than the yearly tuition bill for all students at public two- and four-year colleges and universities, according to a survey of state education officials.

In an attempt to recover money on the defaulted loans, the Education Department paid more than $1.4 billion last fiscal year to collection agencies and other groups to hunt down defaulters.

From DSC:
Administrators throughout the country need to ask, how can we cut the price of our degrees by 50% or more? No kidding! I realize that sounds crazy, but if we don’t do this, cheaper — and increasingly attractive/convenient — alternatives will continue to develop. The conversation is not moving in a positive direction folks. There is a limit to people’s incomes and patience here.

Tagged with: budgetary • cost of getting an education • dangers of the status quo • Daniel S. Christian • future of higher education • game-changing environment • reinvent • society • staying relevant • student-related • United States • Walmart of Education

Previous Entries Next Entries

Learning Ecosystems

College crackup and the online future [Taylor]

MOOCs for credit [Kolowich]

“The Walmart of Education” appears to be materializing in front of our eyes [Christian]

An excellent question that needs to be answered. “How are accreditors being a roadblock to innovation?”

Reflections on “College may never be the same” [Marklein]

Technology and the broken higher education cost model: Insights from the Delta Cost Project [Kirshstein & Wellman]

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