Capella University commissioned a study recently on the value of returning to school. The results lend support for just about everything we’re doing in the industry to figure out the rapidly evolving learning models. You can find the results site at http://www.degreesofopportunity.org. There’s also an interview with the head researcher on the page, Dr. Lyungai Mbilinyi from University of Washington.
Amidst all the brouhaha about quality of education, it appears that the number of people wanting to head back to school in a non-traditional fashion just keeps growing, fueling the fly-by-night programs and extending this sharks v. jets street fight between the traditionals. We need to move past this. From the findings:
- Only one-third of those who would like more education said that they would “probably pursue this.�
- The top two barriers to pursuing higher education were:
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- Finding the time for school amidst work, family, and other commitments.
- Finding the money for school, including the need to provide for themselves and their family while attending school.
We need to launch a campaign that educates on the realities of education — not just the beyond-the-degree benefits. I was talking with Mark Alexander today about other student services organizations that exist specifically to support the extra-curricular needs of students. This one struck me: Student Resource Services.
What genius, right? With now a full 60% of attendance in higher education coming from a non-traditional age range (from the survey and interview), it should make perfect sense that this group begin to demand the same services they receive at work from their Employee Support Organizations. What are the biggest obstacles for colleges and universities to get into this sort of support business for their students?