John Ebersole in a Forbes Article in December wrote -
If education can not help students with the experience and skills, why would people enroll in school? Why would someone rack up debt if there is nothing for them at the end of a program? What is the ROI for someone to attend school?
People attend school to help them move up in their careers or into careers. If the school can not help them with that I can see why enrollments are down. We have to do a better job in understanding the ROI of students and why they come to school in the first place. I think there is a disconnect between education and the workforce and gulf is getting larger.
Thankfully, there is a solution and we have to transform learning to improve the situation. We have to provide the experience and skills in a program of study. We can not just educate; we must educate and train. We must listen to the needs of students and employers and be the bridge between the two. We can not put our heads in the sand and hope the world changes towards us. That is not going to happen. We must lead! We must transform! We must help and not be a barrier to success! Our success is our graduates success!
"According to data released by the Census Bureau earlier this year, college enrollment for fall 2012 was nearly half a million lower than the year prior. This decline, it reported, was driven by students 25 and older who accounted for almost 90 percent of the decrease."I have a hypothesis of the decline for 25 and older students in education. In the IT workforce, experience and skills outweigh education today. I have talked to a lot of employers and friends and there is a consensus among them that is startling to me as an educator.
If education can not help students with the experience and skills, why would people enroll in school? Why would someone rack up debt if there is nothing for them at the end of a program? What is the ROI for someone to attend school?
People attend school to help them move up in their careers or into careers. If the school can not help them with that I can see why enrollments are down. We have to do a better job in understanding the ROI of students and why they come to school in the first place. I think there is a disconnect between education and the workforce and gulf is getting larger.
Thankfully, there is a solution and we have to transform learning to improve the situation. We have to provide the experience and skills in a program of study. We can not just educate; we must educate and train. We must listen to the needs of students and employers and be the bridge between the two. We can not put our heads in the sand and hope the world changes towards us. That is not going to happen. We must lead! We must transform! We must help and not be a barrier to success! Our success is our graduates success!
