INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Daniel Pianko
Contributor
Daniel Pianko is co-founder and managing director of University Ventures, a fund
focused on innovation from within higher education.
More posts by this contributor
Rethinking return on education
investment
Why Silicon Valley Falls Short When It Comes To Education
Carol
D&Amico
Contributor
Carol D&Amico is executive vice president of Strada Education Network, a national nonprofit
dedicated to strengthening America pathways between education and employment.
In the years to come, who will hospitality hiring
managers trust to credential students: Cornell University or the Four Seasons Will it be Google or Penn State that sets the standards that
determine who qualifies as a good computer programmer Could GE define competency in aeronautic engineering rather than Vaughn College Should
employers place more value in a fashion credential backed by the editors ofVogueor the Pratt Institute
Institutions of higher education are,
of course, not unfamiliar with branding
The brands of top-tier institutions shape not just consumer sentiment, but the market and regulatory landscapes that have governed their
The single greatest determinant ofUnited States News World Reportrankings is reliance on &reputation.& Eight of the top 20United States
Newsuniversities are Ivy League schools which are, on average, more than 250 years old.
Brands evolve slowly in any industry
Just ask Arizona State University Michael Crow or other leaders of a cadre of innovative colleges and universities that tout dramatic
accomplishments, but fail to crack the spaces dominated for centuries by big brands like Harvard, Yale and Princeton.
But the role of brands
in higher education may be changing
Mega brands fromoutsideeducation are beginning to transform the way students and employers think about learning.
Owners of global consumer
brands sense two broad shifts in higher education that make it ripe for &brand extensions.& First, traditional education is under assault
Employers are increasingly skeptical of the correlation between a college performance and workplace outcomes
Depending on how you count, coding schools may be graduating as many computer scientists as traditional universities.
Peter Thiel offers
$100,000 to brilliant minds willing to drop out of college
Major companies like Google and IBM are looking beyond the degree to find employees with the skills and competencies they demand —
regardless of whether they went to college
TheNew York Timespartnered with Cambridge Information Group, which operates Sotheby Master degree-granting Institute of Art, on art
business, contemporary art and fine and decorative arts and design
And startup MasterClass has made a splash by teaming up with celebrities like Wolfgang Puck, Serena Williams and Malcolm Gladwell to teach
classes in their respective fields.
Will it be Google or Penn State that sets the standards that determine who qualifies as a good
computer programmer
The definition of education credential, too, is changing
As the shelf life of skills shrinks, the degree is fast losing relevance as the primary unit of measurement for post-secondary education
Our nation colleges and universities are, increasingly, using digital credentials to help their graduates show-what-they-know and enable
employers to make sense of skills or accomplishments
Even the United States Department of Education is supporting &experimental sites& thatdecouple financial aid from the credit hour in favor
of a focus on the underlyingcompetencies that employers valuemost.
The economics of higher education also makes sense to big brands
Consider the potential for old-line media companies faced with falling revenues as digital distribution models take market share and compete
Media brands desperately seeking product extensions understand that education is a big market, with over $500 billion of higher education
spend in the United States alone
No-name private colleges charge $50,000 in tuition and fees
Name-brand colleges create massive profits, and emerging brands like General Assembly command premium fees to train students for thehybrid
Contrast the lifetime value of credential seekers with average revenues per customer selling ads and magazine subscriptions.
But the
opportunity for brands is not just economic
Media companies bring other assets to the table, including more curated, and often times high-quality, content than virtually any university
Imagine working with Thomas Friedman,New York Timescolumnist and author ofThe World Is Flat, to create a course on the Middle East — or a
product manager of Samsung on mobile computing.
This is not an either-or for universities
ParsonspartneredwithTeen Vogue Magazineto launch Certificate in Fashion Industry Essentials
Bellevue University teamed up with Chipotle to build a restaurant-orientedbusiness degree programthat maps to the Chipotle career path
And Queen Latifah — perhaps one of the best lessons in branding — is building with Strayer University an online course for aspiring
entrepreneurs coveringconfidence and perseverance
Smart global brands and universities with stellar reputations will partner with each other to build up their respective competencies
Great universities will bring tradition and academic excellence — while the global brand has connections to employers and incredible
content.
The formula is simple: Well-structured, branded programs will be superior to an unbranded degree
They will give elite institutions a run for their money
It only a matter of time before theUnited States News World Reportrankings are riddled with global brands.
