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The problem is that universities can't really be "disrupted" by newer, leaner startups, because what they sell is intangible prestige, not something more concre

The problem is that universities can't really be "disrupted" by newer, leaner startups, because what they sell is intangible prestige, not something more concrete and objective. If the purpose of university was only to prepare you for professional exams, or something similar with projects, it would be straightforward to start a new one that managed better results for its students on less money. But how do you rapidly develop prestige as a new business, on a budget? It's practically impossible. The system as it is massively favors incumbents. States can still start new universities because they can easily subsidize them, and people usually have some trust in their states to provide an okay education. But a new private entrant? Good luck!

ta988 2y ago
The fun thing is that prestige rots. Unless someone can buy it and brandish it as their own exclusive possession. Maybe billionaires will invest in universities and treat them like the sports teams and journals they own these days.
jjmarr 2y ago
This disruption is already happening with the rise of co-operative education. Schools like the University of Waterloo have amazing job-market outcomes with 5-year degrees that alternate between education and work terms. You graduate with 2 years of work experience and connections with employers to land a job after you graduate. Now they're the best school in Canada for CS and on par with MIT/CMU. Students value "prestige" because they think it'll improve their life. People see people that go to a good university and get good jobs and think "wow this university will make me successful!" because some of the prestige rubs off on them. I don't believe that's a good mechanism for improving outcomes. I think there are better ways, and many schools are implementing those ways right now.
mike_hearn 2y ago
That prestige is fading rapidly: https://www.natesilver.net/i/143904654/perceptions-of-higher-ed-are-cratering https://www.natesilver.net/i/143904654/perceptions-of-higher... In 2015, 57 percent of Americans had a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in higher education, according to Gallup polling. By summer 2023, that number had declined to just 36 percent. The decline has been especially bad among Republicans — although only 32 percent of independents have confidence in higher education, and the numbers have also declined among Democrats. That is from mid 2023 so predates the campus protests. Universities have chosen to consume their political capital to deliver short term wins to the left, e.g. by appointing diversity hires to top positions who have engaged in easily spotted plagiarism or academic fraud. People are noticing and trust is falling, even amongst those the universities are directly pandering to. There's not much sign they're going to change strategies though, so probably there will soon be a gap in the market for education startups.
- beej71 2y ago
  Diversity focus is a fairly recent thing, and a very recent thing politically, but Gallup has been looking at this downward trend since the 70s.
  - mike_hearn 2y ago
    They only started asking about higher education specifically in 2015, apparently, and they've only polled about it three times. So we don't really know the trend from the 70s.

ta988 2y ago

The fun thing is that prestige rots. Unless someone can buy it and brandish it as their own exclusive possession. Maybe billionaires will invest in universities and treat them like the sports teams and journals they own these days.

jjmarr 2y ago

This disruption is already happening with the rise of co-operative education. Schools like the University of Waterloo have amazing job-market outcomes with 5-year degrees that alternate between education and work terms. You graduate with 2 years of work experience and connections with employers to land a job after you graduate. Now they're the best school in Canada for CS and on par with MIT/CMU. Students value "prestige" because they think it'll improve their life. People see people that go to a good university and get good jobs and think "wow this university will make me successful!" because some of the prestige rubs off on them. I don't believe that's a good mechanism for improving outcomes. I think there are better ways, and many schools are implementing those ways right now.

mike_hearn 2y ago

That prestige is fading rapidly: https://www.natesilver.net/i/143904654/perceptions-of-higher-ed-are-cratering https://www.natesilver.net/i/143904654/perceptions-of-higher... In 2015, 57 percent of Americans had a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in higher education, according to Gallup polling. By summer 2023, that number had declined to just 36 percent. The decline has been especially bad among Republicans — although only 32 percent of independents have confidence in higher education, and the numbers have also declined among Democrats. That is from mid 2023 so predates the campus protests. Universities have chosen to consume their political capital to deliver short term wins to the left, e.g. by appointing diversity hires to top positions who have engaged in easily spotted plagiarism or academic fraud. People are noticing and trust is falling, even amongst those the universities are directly pandering to. There's not much sign they're going to change strategies though, so probably there will soon be a gap in the market for education startups.

beej71 2y ago
Diversity focus is a fairly recent thing, and a very recent thing politically, but Gallup has been looking at this downward trend since the 70s.
- mike_hearn 2y ago
  They only started asking about higher education specifically in 2015, apparently, and they've only polled about it three times. So we don't really know the trend from the 70s.