Innovations in how post-secondary education are delivered, financed, and recognized are driven by a range of actors – but to understand why these new approaches are emerging, we need to first look at what is driving them.
While there are many factors influencing the direction of post-secondary education around the world, three are particularly noteworthy for influencing recent innovation: reduced return on investment for students, reduced government spending, and significant skills mis-matches between graduates’ abilities and jobs available.
These major shifts in higher education are opening opportunities for new approaches and new actors to help support post-secondary learning and skill development. There are six trends that are particularly notable.
- Online education has become an increasingly accepted option, especially when “stackable” into degrees
- Competency-based education (CBE) lowers costs and reduces completion time for students
- Income Share Agreements (ISAs) help students reduce the risk associated with student loans
- Online Program Manager (OPM) organizations benefit both universities and nontraditional, working-adult students
- Enterprise training companies are filling the skills gap by working directly with employers
- Pathway programs facilitate increasing transnational education, which serves as an additional revenue stream for universities
Click here to read the entire article released by Brookings.
