Education as a Resource — What’s Changing?
I want to preface this by saying that changes to education are happening/will happen at all levels, globally. For the purposes of this discussion, I am choosing to focus solely on higher education in the U.S.
What do you think the world’s population will look like in 2069? By most measures, we’re looking at a 50%-100% increase in the number of people on this planet (depending on your optimism or pessimism on a given day). While a lot of the variation in this range depends on fertility rates — which have been declining — life expectancies are stretching, so let’s assume they cancel each other out.
The point is: unless we expand the scope of habitable terrain (we’re counting on you, Elon), this all adds up to: more, in less, without even accounting for climate change and its effect on the amount of habitable terrain left in 2069.
Meanwhile, society has adopted a better, faster, cheaper attitude. The rate of technological development is to thank for that (or Jeff Bezos).
Tally everything up and we have more people with more demands, and fewer resources per demand. There’s not a whole lot we can do about the first two points — though some would argue otherwise (I disagree with Hardin’s solution). However, in looking at the third point, one thing becomes clear: how we utilize, or improve, those remaining resources is critical to whether or not we can sustain our own growth and innovation through time.
Broadly speaking, a resource is most often defined as a source of something. Water is a source of hydration (amongst other things). The sun is a source of heat (and light). Google is a source of information, as are books. You pay for some, while others are indirectly paid for. There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.
But, this piece is about higher education. So let’s talk about that.
Higher education is a resource too. One that we pay a lot of money for. And, like most every resource out there, its value fluctuates over time. What makes a resource inherently valuable is a discussion for later, but let’s assume for now that it’s simply because a resource is a source of something (e.g., nutrients, knowledge, wealth), and therefore we pay for it in some fashion and receive something in return.
For decades, the current system of higher education was assumed to be worth its price (and likely was); it was valuable. However, we’ve started to question that value more and more. The costs associated with receiving the benefit of an education have risen. Financially, this is true and the most egregious, but there’s more to it.
Think about the opportunity cost associated with a poor experience, particularly in the classroom. Increased class sizes and shortened lecture periods appear to de-personalize it all. Large sums of money are continually thrown at tangible resources that students could largely do without (i.e., no direct benefit to their education), while less is put towards improving the educational experience itself. Schools might be achieving economies of scale and scope through these efforts, but they’re missing the point, allowing others to get involved and costing them a fortune.
Take Lambda School, for instance. Going one-on-one with a top instructor — at your own pace — for pennies in comparison to traditional tuition prices is seemingly a no-brainer. At the same time, higher education in the U.S. is dealing with a $41B student retention problem.
I said it when I dropped out of high school, and I’m saying it again. The future of education is entirely remote. There are hard-to-replicate social benefits associated with today’s higher education system, but its doable.
Opportunity awaits.
Jackson Feder — Venture Partner at Contrary Capital, Ex-Summer Venture Analyst at Bowery Capital, & Senior at Boston University’s QSB
