Strategic Trends Defining Education Today

We have been pouring through research and trends for our independent schools and colleges lately.  As a result, we have a neat, tidy list of recent trends that we believe are relevant and defining for independent schools and colleges today.  We thought we would pass them on to you and encourage you to comment or share as you wish.

1) When the economy goes South, consumers delay the decision to purchase private education. And, even though education generally performs well in recessionary times, we’ve seen a lot of delay in consumer decisions lately.

2) Consumers are seeing increased stratification of educational offerings, driving price down and choices up, between MOOC’s, online platforms, and hybrid offerings.

3) Young, entrepreneurial professionals continue to dwindle in numbers occupying seats around boardroom or governance tables, seeking other venues for their more action-oriented approach to socially-conscious venues to make a difference.

4) Competitive pricing and aid models remain the holy grail of independent education, with no real revolution or innovation in this financial model in two decades.

5) Students are more politically active and socially engaged in issues that define their generation that just a decade or more ago.

6) Curriculum remains incongruent with solving the issues of our times. The global challenges of 2020 don’t seem well reflected in our curriculum.

7) The jury is still out on the best way to teach students, with no obvious prevailing educational philosophy taking the lead role in education.

8) With a tough economy and more lower cost choices in the marketplace, “good is good enough” is becoming a common prevailing consumer philosophy.

9) The marketing game continues to be more about flash than substance, showing us getting attention is far more important than delivering content.

10) The classroom and its walls are exploding, with new tools, fewer walls, and more global influence than ever before.