Today I read an article by Scott Calloway called “The Coming Disruption” in the Intelligencer of the New York Magazine. It focuses on the future of college post-coronavirus.
Future of College
In a Q&A style, Calloway speculates that big tech and elite universities will begin partnerships. These partnerships will result in increased enrollment in a hybrid format where tech companies provide the scalability to reach more students and elite universities provide the accreditation people expect from a college education.
Because of these partnerships, Calloway says a few of the ramifications may be,
- First, more students can receive an education from an elite institution.
- The majority of higher education will remain virtual or become a hybrid style of instruction.
- Therefore, residential campuses will be reserved for rich people.
- A lot of people may pursue gap-year programs.
- In the next year, the pandemic will financially strain all schools, but the top 50 schools globally will rebound and grow over the next ten years.
- However, tier-two and tier-three schools (e.g. beyond rank 50) will “go out of business or become a shadow of themselves.”
I think that many more people are going to question the value of a college education. I also think a lot of people will decide college isn’t worth it.
Finally, we’ll probably see an explosion in alternative programs like Praxis. While these alternative programs are already growing in popularity, that growth curve will probably steepen fast.
The featured image is by Zhanhui Li on Unsplash. You can see my other college-related posts in the College category.
