Episode 11: Pathways from High School to Hired feat. Ryan Craig, Principal, University Ventures Fund
Throughout recent episodes of Illuminate Higher Education, one theme has remained constant—how do we determine the value of higher education?
In this episode, Ryan Craig, Principal at University Ventures Fund, joins the conversation. In addition to his role at University Ventures, Ryan is Managing Partner for Achieve Partners, LLC, and author of two books on the evolution of higher education: A New U: Faster + Cheaper Alternatives to College and College Disrupted: The Great Unbundling of Higher Education.
In this episode, Ryan explains his organization’s definition of higher education, the growing mismatch between skills colleges teach and skills employers want; and where online education fits into the grand scheme of things. Read the highlights of the conversation in this brief Q&A, then listen to the episode for more details.
Q: How does University Ventures define higher education?
About five years ago at University Ventures, we began thinking about higher education in the way we think most prospective students do. They think of higher education as a pathway to a good first job. Of students matriculating into a higher education program, more than 90% consistently say the sole reason they are doing it is to get a good first job or a better job.
For us, that means the one thing higher education should do is create pathways for young people, the unemployed and underemployed, and older displaced workers to get a good first job or a better job. For example, my company invests in startups that provide “Last Mile Training,” or serve to bridge the gap between traditional higher education and employer needs.
Colleges and universities used to be the engine of socioeconomic mobility. Today, the primary message is that financial or career success requires four years of college. For disadvantaged individuals, that could mean six years through community college and public university and tens of thousands of dollars of debt if life does not get in the way. That is the accepted path to just have a shot at joining the dynamic digital economy. That cannot be our only answer, as it brings that engine to a grinding halt.
Q: What about the traditional four-year college degree has changed?
Up until ten to fifteen years ago, I felt higher education was doing a decent job of providing social and economic mobility. It’s not anymore, but what has changed is ironic. Twenty years ago, lots of folks were saying technology would change higher education. That is not really what has happened. Rather, technology has dramatically and irreversibly changed the world of work; specifically, the entry-level jobs that employers are hiring for.
What that means is that employer demand for the product, a trained worker, has shifted while the mission of higher education institutions has not changed. A typical entry-level job for a college graduate might be working in a business function, using one or more SaaS platforms to manage tasks and responsibilities. Our higher education institutions, even community colleges, are not training on SaaS platforms or those businesses. At the same time, employers are increasingly looking for a perfect fit for these jobs. The entry-level jobs students could obtain twenty years ago now effectively require two to three years of work experience. It’s not working. Companies want workers to be productive on day one, and higher education institutions are not producing that.
Q: What role does online learning have in all this?
COVID-19 has led to significant disruption and acceleration of the digital transformation of higher education. We’ve seen a lot of changes in remote learning, but in a year students will return to college campuses and things will look much the same as they did twenty-thirty years ago. Many have predicted the internet and technology would change higher education and we would all learn online. But that was not true a year ago, and it will not be true a year from now.
Online learning is beneficial for those who already have their foot on the first rung of a career ladder. They need to upskill on their own time and schedule. The multitudes of free online learning resources are essentially an enterprise competency marketplace. Employees can ascertain what their competencies are, what they might be missing, and what the best path is from here to there to continue their desired career path.
What we have not seen yet is a model that is delivering 100% online education to bridge the gap between high school and a good first job. So far, there are no online models that provide the level of social, learning, and soft skills development that immersive physical environments can and that employers expect. Recent graduates need to be in a peer group where they can learn from each other and connect with leaders and mentors. We need to build physical pathways between candidates and good first jobs.
Ryan and podcast host Kiran Kodithala take a deeper dive into these topics and more on Episode 11 of Illuminate Higher Education.
Discover more about University Ventures Fund by visiting their website and following on LinkedIn or @UniVenturesFund on Twitter. You can also connect with guest Ryan Craig on LinkedIn.
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This episode is brought to you by N2N’s Illuminate App, the iPaaS for Higher Education.
About N2N Services
Founded in 2010, N2N is committed to serving educational institutions and helping them figure out how to serve their students, faculty, and staff using the most innovative technologies and solutions available in the marketplace. Over the last decade, N2N has served over 300 academic institutions and enabled their student success journeys.
N2N Services Inc. is a leader in enterprise application integration and strategic advisory services for higher education, At N2N, we are committed to providing the highest quality solutions and collaboratively building student-centric solutions.
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