It’s widely accepted that traditional colleges and universities are ripe for some kind of disruption.
Their expense is out of control, and the nation’s outstanding student debt is now more than $1 trillion. About half of students arriving on campuses need to take remedial courses, and entirely too many of them drop out. Employers increasingly prize post-secondary credentials other than standard four-year degrees. Because of technological advancements and other changes in the economy, older adults are looking to acquire new skills, and the traditional college experience doesn’t fit their needs. And many campuses’ brazen hostility toward dissenting opinions demonstrates that it’s a conceit for much of higher education to promote itself the home for the free exchange of ideas.
Not surprisingly, then, the list of disruptors is now extensive—and widely cheered. More states are embracing “career and technical education” high schools to prepare students for direct entry into the workforce. Dual-enrollment programs and Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses enable high school students to accumulate college credits prior to actually becoming full-fledged college students. Technical schools are helping students earn a constellation of work certifications. Community colleges are partnering with employers to develop new workforce-training programs. Employers are also bypassing institutions of higher education entirely by creating an array of apprenticeships and other site-based training programs. And, unfortunately, recent data shows that many millennials are avoiding higher education and work by living with their parents; and lots of older adults are participating in neither higher education nor the workforce.
But probably the greatest threat to traditional higher education has been the promise of new online courses and providers. Instead of enrolling in a traditional four-year college and taking a loosely connected 120-credits worth of courses on a traditional campus, students can access a universe of classes through their personal devices. And the diversification of options is expansive and growing—experimentation is under way with regard to the organizations offering the courses; who teaches the courses; how students engage with the courses; how credits “stack” toward a certificate, degree, or something else; and much more.
In other words, if a student isn’t ready to commit to a four-year program, doesn’t live near a campus, is worried about accumulating debt, doesn’t like the culture of traditional universities, has personal obligations that make a traditional college experience impossible, or something else, these new paths are obviously appealing.
This context helps explain why Purdue University’s acquisition of Kaplan University is so interesting. This longstanding, well respected, public, land-grant college in Indiana—led by the remarkable Mitch Daniels—is bringing this 32,000-student, for-profit, primarily online, higher-education entity under its umbrella. “New University” will be a public institution affiliated with Purdue.
Alarmists are likely to charge that this is some kind of sneaky way to “privatize” public higher education. Investors are likely to wonder what this portends for the for-profit higher-education industry. But the story is more straightforward than any of that, and it has even bigger implications.
This traditional university has realized that the world has changed, and it is trying its best to respond smartly. Yes, the standard four-year degree is still great for lots of people, and the standard way of acquiring it still works for many students. But lots of students (and their families) are looking for something else. Employers and the economy are signaling that other approaches are needed. Technology is both complicating and facilitating possible changes. If Purdue’s gambit works, more students will have more pathways to post-secondary success, there will be more space for innovation, and a public institution will have wrung some efficiency and cost-savings out of higher education’s bloat.
To be clear, lots of colleges are experimenting with online delivery (e.g. the 50,000-student University of Maryland University College). And there’s absolutely no guarantee Purdue’s venture will succeed: System disruptions are typically best led by new entrants into the market not existing entities adopting disruptive approaches; or maybe Purdue should’ve “built” instead “bought” an online vehicle. But this story, because of its scope, sophistication, and potential, is worth tracking closely.
A postscript about the leader of this effort is in order. Daniels established a laudable record in K-12 education during his tenure as Indiana governor, pushing successful initiatives in school choice and accountability. While at Purdue, he’s protected opinion diversity, standing against the tide of speech restrictions. This new episode not only shows Daniels’ bent for creativity, it also demonstrates his astonishing ability as a government operator: It would be hard to overstate the number and height of obstacles required to pull this off—I’m sure a swarm of lawyers, politicians, investors, regulators, accreditors, and members of boards of trustees have been and will be all over this.
In other words, Daniels is burnishing his reputation as a conservative, entrepreneurial, results-oriented, experienced, public-sector leader precisely when that profile is both sorely needed and in short supply.
Andy Smarick is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
