For-Profit Education
A recent announcement by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. that its workers can receive college credit from the online for-profit American Public University and receive a tuition discount from the school.
At the Venture Capital in Education Summit last month, Peter Campbell of private equity firm Generation Partners told the
crowd, "A theme you hear from the President is that in the next 12 years, we have to retake our primacy as the most educated nation on earth. As an investor, that's the kind of trend you want to align yourself with."
For-profit education startups are appearing with more frequency. Headlines like "2tor Raises $20 Million Series B To Go After The High End Of Online Education" are appearing. Princeton Review founder John Katzman's team built this Facebook-like multimedia social-learning platform for the online Master of Arts in
Teaching program at the University of Southern California.
EduFire is a platform for live video teaching and tutoring started by Jon Bischke who started two earlier education-related companies - 2000Tutor.com Network and LearnOutLoud.com, and it is billed as the Internet's largest catalog of educational audio, video, and podcasts.
I posted earlier about Grockit which looks like a live online multiplayer game and offers test prep. They have more than $10 million in funding from venture capitalists.
Inigral is billed as the "social Web for education" and is funded by Facebook's Founder's Fund. It uses social media to help colleges with recruiting, retention, and alumni relations. The co-founder and CEO is Michael Staton, a former high-school teacher who built Facebook's Courses application.
Knewton is an "adaptive learning engine" from Kaplan test-prep vet Jose Ferreira that promises to "customize content for each student, down to the concept level, with integrated assessment tools."
It's interesting (and perhaps a bit frightening to traditional colleges) that when Wal-Mart was looking for a way to cultivate talent within the company, they looked to a for-profit college. Perhaps, it makes sense that a business looks at for-profit schools as closer to their own corporate mission.
The company also said it will commit $50 million over three years to
help workers pay for books and tuition above the reduced tuition rate.
After the reduction, tuition will cost $212.50 per undergraduate credit
hour and $255 for graduate credits. Students won't have to pay for credits awarded based on their training.
American Public University, with 70,000 students, offers more than 100 certificate and degree programs - and, of course, they have a place in Facebook.
Wal-Mart is not looking for employees to get degrees in English, philosophy or psychology. The credit for training can be applied mainly to business and retail-related courses. They also offer assistance to workers seeking GEDs. Wal-Mart executives said the link with the school will help workers attain better jobs both inside and outside the company.
The company notes that if 10% of Wal-Mart's U.S. workers get degrees, "that would be like adding three Ohio State's worth of graduates."
At the Venture Capital in Education Summit last month, Peter Campbell of private equity firm Generation Partners told the
crowd, "A theme you hear from the President is that in the next 12 years, we have to retake our primacy as the most educated nation on earth. As an investor, that's the kind of trend you want to align yourself with."
For-profit education startups are appearing with more frequency. Headlines like "2tor Raises $20 Million Series B To Go After The High End Of Online Education" are appearing. Princeton Review founder John Katzman's team built this Facebook-like multimedia social-learning platform for the online Master of Arts in
Teaching program at the University of Southern California.
EduFire is a platform for live video teaching and tutoring started by Jon Bischke who started two earlier education-related companies - 2000Tutor.com Network and LearnOutLoud.com, and it is billed as the Internet's largest catalog of educational audio, video, and podcasts.
I posted earlier about Grockit which looks like a live online multiplayer game and offers test prep. They have more than $10 million in funding from venture capitalists.
Inigral is billed as the "social Web for education" and is funded by Facebook's Founder's Fund. It uses social media to help colleges with recruiting, retention, and alumni relations. The co-founder and CEO is Michael Staton, a former high-school teacher who built Facebook's Courses application.
Knewton is an "adaptive learning engine" from Kaplan test-prep vet Jose Ferreira that promises to "customize content for each student, down to the concept level, with integrated assessment tools."
It's interesting (and perhaps a bit frightening to traditional colleges) that when Wal-Mart was looking for a way to cultivate talent within the company, they looked to a for-profit college. Perhaps, it makes sense that a business looks at for-profit schools as closer to their own corporate mission.
The company also said it will commit $50 million over three years to
help workers pay for books and tuition above the reduced tuition rate.
After the reduction, tuition will cost $212.50 per undergraduate credit
hour and $255 for graduate credits. Students won't have to pay for credits awarded based on their training.
American Public University, with 70,000 students, offers more than 100 certificate and degree programs - and, of course, they have a place in Facebook.
Wal-Mart is not looking for employees to get degrees in English, philosophy or psychology. The credit for training can be applied mainly to business and retail-related courses. They also offer assistance to workers seeking GEDs. Wal-Mart executives said the link with the school will help workers attain better jobs both inside and outside the company.
The company notes that if 10% of Wal-Mart's U.S. workers get degrees, "that would be like adding three Ohio State's worth of graduates."
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