How COVID-19 Could Shift The College Business Model: ‘It’s Hard To Go Back’
Alison McCauley | Crypto & Blockchain
Could A Virus Accelerate Disruption Of The Four-Year Degree? It took just a few tumultuous weeks to completely change the entire U.S. higher education system. Campuses sit empty as millions of students are back in households that already fighting to pay the cost of college, are now closing businesses, losing jobs, and struggling to pay even basic expenses. Those students with internet access have been thrust overnight into hastily prepared digital substitutes of the campus experience. Could this abrupt and far- reaching shift put enough pressure on the college business model to trigger lasting change? Suddenly we have a digital learning lab that is millions strong. “There are hundreds of millions of students in China experimenting with various forms of online learning. We have tens of millions in the U.S., and many more around the world,” explains Matt Greenfield, Managing Partner of Rethink Education, a venture firm focused on edtech. Administrators, students, and teachers are experiencing the problems with online learning firsthand—but they are also discovering situations in which it works surprisingly well. “A lot of institutions are experimenting,” says Greenfield, “and it’s going to be hard to go back.” Meanwhile, many hallmarks that define an elite university today evaporate when it moves online. As this cohort graduates into a brutal job market, often in debt, the return on a college investment will be under even more scrutiny. We are in the midst of a high stakes global experiment—and it’s chaotic.
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The Business Review | September 2020
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