Why US Colleges Are Set To Fail (from a systems perspective)

Posted on Apr 29, 2010 | 4 comments

Today’s post has a prelude that has been added…..

I’d like to share with you my perspective on this same topic. The post below is unchanged from when I had written it about a week ago. I did add “(from a systems perspective)” to the subject line. Here it is.

I recently obtained my PhD degree in Systems Engineering. The process was long, arduous and more of a test of perseverance than a test of knowledge in many ways. But what I found more interesting than my achievement was the experience and insight into the college system. A system that is definitely less than optimal and unsustainable.

Let’s look at a college as a business system. Yes, public universities are supported with tax dollars but all colleges (public or private) function as a business (or at least should). In the educational world, it’s an exchange of money for services. Students pay money. Colleges provide education, knowledge, and an experience.

What are missing from the current college model are innovation, vision, foresight, and human-centric optimization. The existing college business model is stagnant, failing, and ultimately not sustainable. Here’s just a few reasons why from a systems perspective (there’s many more):

1) Lead Generation – talk about limiting your potential pool of applicants. Right now the college system forces students to physically move to a campus in order to attend college courses. How many more leads could you pour into your funnel if your target market included an entire state, all of the US, or even the entire world? The supply is further limited by prestige and left-brain accomplishments used as acceptance criteria. Leads are the fuel for creating a perpetual business machine yet the existing college system inherently chokes the incoming lead pipelines.

2) Content Distribution – old, tired, left-brain thinking that does not leverage multi-media distribution in an effective manner. Why do we force college students to be physically in the same room as a professor and at a certain time? Have you ever thought about how much “learning” could be done if students were watching a lecture on an iPad rather than commuting for an on-site class? In-person learning is valuable in my opinion but what exactly is the most effective manner of engaging in-person? Is a one-way dialogue the best from professor to student?

3) Performance Measurement – this is clearly the biggest and most concerning hurdle of the current educational system – it’s called accreditation. Due to accreditation requirements, schools are stuck with certain curriculums and new, innovative approaches to change the education system are stifled. I believe that the way to change this issue begins with the hiring practices of businesses themselves. If businesses begin to hire people based on demonstrable knowledge and expertise and place less emphasis on a diploma, than non-standard and non-accredited educational models will become a possibility for folks to pursue

4) Team Member Motivation – the current college system measures college professors on research, published works, and service to the community. Unfortunately, far too much research misses the mark with real-world needs. How much impact on real-world activity comes from a paper published in a journal? As a PhD, I seek to convey my message and God-given talents to help as many people as possible around the world….not just to those located on one college campus.

Is it a coincidence that the largest university in North America has challenged the stereotypical educational model? Check out these statistics (courtesy of Wikipedia):

• 420,700 undergraduate students and 78,000 graduate students
• 95% of University of Phoenix instructors teach part-time
• The University paid $154.5 million for 20-year stadium naming rights for advertising purposes (even though the University itself does not participate in intercollegiate sports)
• More than 200 campuses worldwide

I give many props to the University of Phoenix for brining innovation to the tired college system. Although I think there’s even more that can be done there’s a reason why the University of Phoenix has captured the attention of such a large number of college students.

There’s a freight train coming around the bend that’s about to pulverize the old college model. The stubborn will be blindsided. But I guarantee that someone is going to take the University of Phoenix model to even higher heights.

Now it’s time for me to go read Seth’s blog post from today. You should too.