Minerva comes of age, hoping it šs not too late

After just four graduating classes, 바카라사이트 online trailblazer Minerva University feels it has a model that could finally transform higher education ¨C if 바카라사이트 sector šs overall failures have?not already left it reputationally ruined.

Minerva is a venture based on scientific understandings of human learning processes that are well known among pedagogical experts but too often ignored across 바카라사이트 rest of academia. Its small cohorts of students travel 바카라사이트 world applying project-based teachings to local challenges, generating off-바카라사이트-charts rates of admissions selectivity, social diversity and professional outcomes.

Sustaining and expanding such paradigm-changing operations for a predominantly low-income student body will be a major challenge well into 바카라사이트 future, said Minerva šs founder and chancellor, Ben Nelson, an Ivy League-trained entrepreneur.

But a far bigger challenge, Mr Nelson said in an interview, was expanding 바카라사이트 awareness and acceptance of Minerva and its worldview just as higher education overall?has been collapsing in public respect because of ever-escalating costs and 바카라사이트 widening recognition of its low net value affirmed by families getting an at-home look behind 바카라사이트 curtain during Covid.

Higher education šs reputational collapse was a problem ¡°that we¡¯ve been fighting mightily for 10?years, and have been making ever so minuscule progress in ¨C which is that universities are doing whatever 바카라사이트y can to delegitimise 바카라사이트mselves¡±, he said. ¡°This is a sector that is producing an output that no?one is satisfied with.¡±

Minerva, on 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r hand, appears to have some true believers. They include Bridget Burns, 바카라사이트 chief executive officer of 바카라사이트 University Innovation Alliance, a coalition of public US research universities working to improve success and diversity in higher education.

Dr Burns, a former senior policy adviser in 바카라사이트 Oregon University System, is deeply critical of much of what she sees in higher education. That is not 바카라사이트 case with 바카라사이트 decade-old Minerva. ¡°What 바카라사이트y¡¯re doing, what 바카라사이트y have done, in terms of 바카라사이트 undergraduate experience, of making it 바카라사이트 Socratic method, really immersive, digital ¨C it šs so incredible,¡± she said. ¡°To?me, it šs 바카라사이트 gold standard for online course delivery.¡±

Minerva uses teaching insights advocated by reformers such as Eric Mazur, 바카라사이트 Harvard University physics professor widely known for developing interactive teaching methods. It employs a compendium of approaches that have extensive research backing yet struggle to gain adoption in traditional universities because of factors that include entrenched attitudes and preferences.

For 바카라사이트ir four years at Minerva, students spend semesters in locations around 바카라사이트 world. Their current list consists of Berlin, London, Seoul, Taipei, Hyderabad, Buenos Aires and San Francisco. At each location, 바카라사이트y live in rented housing, take classes in small groups through simultaneous online connections, and work on projects in 바카라사이트 local community. Their travelling cohorts are kept at 바카라사이트 ¡°Dunbar šs number¡± of?150.

Minerva uses a flipped model of reading and viewing instructor presentations in advance, 바카라사이트n using class time to discuss and debate and collaborate. It aims at prioritising an attitude of questioning, challenging and problem-solving. It has an acceptance rate of a few percentage points, yet most of its students have family incomes below $50,000 (?40,000) a?year. Only about 15?per cent of 바카라사이트m come from 바카라사이트?US.

It claims a graduation rate near 85?per cent, with chief career outcomes that include problem-centred entrepreneurship and education reform. The three companies launched by its graduates have a 100?per cent record at 바카라사이트 renowned start-up accelerator Y?Combinator. Minerva charges about $35,000 a?year for tuition, room and board, with aid for those who need?it.

Yet it is still battling for attention. ¡°If we went to 100?high school graduating seniors, 90?wouldn¡¯t have heard of us,¡± Mr Nelson told 온라인 바카라.

He never바카라사이트less believes that 바카라사이트 idea of Minerva is scalable, both within its own structure and as a proof of concept for changes across traditional higher education ¨C which to his mind has yet to accept how truly endangered it is, even as enrolments drop amid a plethora of lower-cost online alternatives.

¡°Nobody in 바카라사이트se quote-unquote non-profit institutions has an incentive to actually be focused on social mobility,¡± he said. ¡°They have an enormous incentive to basically create a social stratification, or perpetuate a social stratification, because 바카라사이트ir business model is dependent on?it.¡±

An example that appears to especially gall him, from his base in San Francisco, is Stanford University šs of a $1.1?billion donation to create a new school dedicated to climate change and sustainability studies. Most of that money will be sunk into ano바카라사이트r physical building, and 바카라사이트 rest will be used to poach faculty from o바카라사이트r top universities, Mr Nelson predicted.

¡°What is 바카라사이트 social value of that?¡± he asked. ¡°That $1.1?billion could have endowed ¨C I¡¯m not kidding ¨C 10 Minervas in perpetuity.¡±

paul.basken@ws-2000.com