PSMs and the Changing Higher Education Landscape:
A Personal Journey
Prof. David Finegold
- Do Not Forward
NPSMA Confidential
2013 Annual
Conference
Chapter 1: Birth of the PSM
The Keck Graduate Institute
of Applied Life Sciences
Confidential - Do Not Forward
Creating a Stand Alone PSM College
 Vision of Founding President: Hank Riggs
 10-year tenure as President of Harvey Mudd College
 Maintain Claremont College’s unique growth model

Raised $50 M Founding Gift

Later added a $20 M challenge grant
A two-year program designed specifically
to develop leaders for the Life Sciences industry

Decoding of the Human Genome
 Realization that ½ of bioscience grads entered
industry, but had no explicit preparation for it
 Build integrators between MBAs & PhDs

Confidential - Do Not Forward
Key Features of the Master’s of Bioscience (MBS)
•
•
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Took advantage of the opportunity to start with a blank sheet of
paper
•
Deep integration between sciences & business
•
No departments
•
Not confined by existing academic schedule
•
Long-term contracts > tenure -- controversial
Extensive ties with the bioscience industry from the outset
•
Source of many founding faculty
•
Paid internships for all students
•
Built a great board & advisory board
Inquiry-driven, team-based learning: Captone Team Master’s
projects
•
Adapted model from Harvey Mudd
nd revenue
Confidential - Do
Forward
•
$50,000/project becomes
2Not
stream
28 Students in Our First Class of Graduates
Confidential - Do Not Forward
Lessons Learned and Challenges
•
•
•
•
•
Evolved in parallel and partnership with growth of PSMs led by
the Sloan Foundation
•
Uneasy initial relationship – not sure if same creature
•
Decide better to be part of a movement
Benefits & drawbacks to being a standalone college
•
New institution plus new degree
•
Only possible because of Claremont Colleges unique model
Shift to greater emphasis on business & regulatory
•
Reflects student interest & career paths
•
But not reflected in initial choice of degree name
Struggle to find right profile, activity mix for faculty
•
Balancing demands for research, teaching & service
Location less than ideal for industry interaction, part-timers
Confidential
- Do Notcampus
Forward
•
Contemplated move,
branch
in San Diego cluster
Part II: Creating A
Statewide PSM System
• Translate lessons from KGI into a public flagship research
university
– First graduate degree to span all 3 Rutgers campuses, 15+ Schools
– MBS = Master’s of Business & Science
• Raise over $2 million in start-up grants
– NSF, DoL, DoEd, Sloan, NJ, Internal seed money
– Tied to wider efforts to build NJ bioscience cluster: WIRED Bio-1
• Create a governance & financial model to foster
cooperation & innovation
–
–
–
–
Modular design to allow for new degree tracks
Money flows to teaching department
Grad schools grant degrees, Continuing Ed supports
Strong central leadership: Prof. Deborah Silver
Enrollment Growth in Rutgers’
PSM
MBS Quick Facts:
• April 2010: MBS Degree was
formally approved
• September 2010: First official
class
• May 2012: First MBS
graduating class – 24 students.
May 2013 – 49 students
• 2013: 29 concentrations. 3
campuses: New Brunswick,
Newark, Camden
Lessons Learned & Challenges
• Modular structure key to speed & adaptation
– But limits deep integration within tracks
• Difficult to gain buy-in from many schools
– My faculty see as distraction, rather than way to elevate profile &
serve broader group of students
– B-school resists as lower cost competitor they don’t control
• Vital to have local champions
• Crucial to have a few courses owned by the program
– Self-sustaining tuition flow
• Easy to sign international partnerships, hard to drive
student flow
Part III: Disruptions in Higher
Education
• Incremental changes that began with PSM
movement are now accelerating
– Current HE business model unsustainable for
many institutions
• Exciting experiments with new models
The US has lost Higher Ed Advantage
And Low Growth in Completion Rates
Percent of Age Groups with a Degree
The Squeeze on the Middle Class
Decline in State HE Funding
Higher Education Expansion in China
Enrollment in higher education as % of 18-22 age
population: 1990-2010
30.0%
25.0%
20.0%
15.0%
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Source: China Statistical Abstract 2011
• Latest 12-month average: March 2012–February 2013
Note: Underemployment data are only available beginning in 1994. Data are for
college
graduates age 21–24 who do not have an advanced degree and are not enrolled
in further schooling. Shaded areas denote recessions.
Source: EPI (2013), analysis of basic monthly Current Population Survey microdata
The Impact of Technological Change
• Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) could displace many workers
• Elliott (2008) analyzed 52 capabilities required for existing
occupations compared with advances in AI research
– Language
– Reasoning
– Vision
– Movement
• By 2030 predicts computers might be superior to humans in 60% of
current jobs
– Treat with major caution
• Not predicting mass unemployment, but major implications for
education, occupational structure, distribution of wealth
– Danger of reinforcing barbell economy
New HE Models
Competency-Based Models
Learn just what you need, when you
want: New Charter University
• New start-up in 2011
• For-profit adaptation of
Western Governors U
model
• Can start for free – pay
only if you want credits
• $199/month for as many
courses as you want
• Each class begins by
testing for prior learning –
only cover what’s needed
:
Degrees May No Longer Be Required
• Founded in 1999
• First Indian Business School to
crack the FT’s Global Top 100
rankings
– Top 20 last 3 years
• Doesn’t offer a degree
– Post-grad 1-year certificate =
billed as equivalent to MBA
• How did they do it?
– Leveraged brand names of
leading global B-schools:
Kellogg, Wharton, later LBS
– Boards filled with top employers
D
e
g
r
e
e
s
N
o
New Models: India School of Business
New Models: American Honors
American Honors is a 2-year honors program designed in partnership with
community colleges to broaden access to top 4-year degrees
• New, competitive 2-year Honors
program at community college
• Small classes, top faculty, personal
advising, cohorted peer group
Transfer
• Partner with top 100 public and
private colleges and universities
• Address the “undermatching
problem”
• Lower costs of first two years of
undergraduate education by 4090%
2
Earn Associates degree with
Honors after first two years
+
2/3
Earn Bachelors degree from Top 100
University after two more years
22
School of Management and Labor Relations
Massive Open Online Courses
• MOOCs = the dominant new HE
phenomenon of the last 2 years
– Classes with 150,000+ students at a time
– Huge potential global benefits in educational
access
– Dramatic change in the online conversation for
most elite universities
• From resistance to Presidents being fired for not
moving fast enough
• Explosive growth
– Coursera 4+ million students with 500 courses
from 50+ top global universities by Fall 2013
School of Management and Labor Relations
MOOCs = the Trifecta
Affordability, Flexibility, Brand
AFFORDABILITY
New Charter U
MOOCs: Coursera,
Udacity, EdX
High
Low
High USC
Online, Rutgers,
ASU
BYU-Idaho,
UNT-Dallas
Low
Low
High
EDUCATIONAL QUALITY/BRAND VALUE
CONVENIENCE/
FLEXIBILITY
School of Management and Labor Relations
Some Lesser Known MOOC Facts
• Sebastian Thrun
attracted over
150,000 to his first AI
MOOC by sending 50
e-mails
• Top 400 performers in
his Stanford course
were taking MOOC
version
• Most of those
completing early
MOOCs have degrees
25
School of Management and Labor Relations
Early MOOC Issues
• Potential reputational risk if not done well
– Example of failed Georgia Tech course,
ironically on “How to teach online”
• High attrition rates in version 1.0 – though many
never intended to complete
• Have costs, but no clear business model
• Concerns re: assessment, learning method
– Although improving rapidly
• May create expectation in new generation that
educational content should be free – ala news,
music
School of Management and Labor Relations
MOOCs 2.0: Georgia Tech’s
Master’s in Computer Science
• Enable full degree from Top 10 Program for $6,600 vs.
$30-45,000 tuition + living for face-to-face
• Partnership with Udacity andAT&T $2 M gift
• Serve AT&T employees and military in initial ‘pilot’: 600
vs. 300 in current face to face program
• Goal is 2000 students within 3 years generating $5 Msurplus/year
• Potential major threat to many existing PSMs if
successful
School of Management and Labor Relations
Georgia Tech MOOC Master’s
Concentrations at the outset
• Computational Perception & Robotics
• Databases & Software Engineering
• High-Performance Computing
• Interactive Intelligence
• Machine Learning
• Networking
• Social Computing
• Systems
Forces That May Sustain Existing
HE & PSM Models
• Colleges & universities = long-lived institutions
– Only organized religion = older
• Produce many benefits beyond graduates
– Key stakeholder, employer in local communities
• Demand for selective colleges at all-time high
• ROI on degrees remains relatively high
– No guarantee of a job, but better than the alternative in
knowledge-driven economy
• Surge in international students
Growth in International Students to US
International Students
800,000
700,000
600,000
500,000
400,000
300,000
200,000
100,000
0
1990/91
1995/96
2000/01
2005/06
Data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
30
The data collection process was changed in 1974/75. Refugees were counted from 1975/76 to 1990/91.
2010/11
What Can We Expect in 5-10 Years?
• Nobody knows
– Rate of change, plus number of disruptive & contradictory trends
makes any predictions suspect
– But here we go anyway…
• Likely to mirror growth in inequality in wider society
– Rich get richer: global brands & students, endowment, alumni
networks, leverage top profs with MOOCs
– Majority of institutions and faculty struggle
• Ongoing challenges with graduate employment
– Growth in supply outstrips new high-end jobs
• Disruption likely greatest…
– On margins of existing systems
– Where graduates can demonstrate competence objectively
– End of high school, first two years of college
• Misaligned spending & value
Bricks & Mortar Can Be a Liability
Will universities go the way of bookstores,
video stores and newspapers?
What Can We Expect in 5-10 Years?
• Not likely to see leading publics and privates fail
– On campus experience still offers superior value to
online education for 18-24s (and their parents)
– Added element of selectivity, screening, networking
• But likely to see unprecedented reduction in # of HE
institutions
– Discount rate already 60+%
– Failures and mergers
– Could be up to 1/3 of privates outside the top 200
– Uncertainty re: public support – mandated growth in
entitlements suggests continued squeeze
PSMs Must Continue To Innovate
• Focus on elements hardest for fully online to emulate
– Lab-based applied research
– Integrating force for interdisciplinary collaboration,
entrepreneurship & job creation
– Building effective global teams & partners
– Creating strong sense of community
– Opportunities to meet, network with industry leaders
– Adapt to the market
– Treat MOOCs as feeders, rather than competitors
• Impressed by KGI range of new offerings
– Postdoctoral Professional Master’s – business for PhDs
– Post-baccalaureate Premedical Certificate
– PharmD – new school seeking accreditation
– Bold experiment with the Minerva project
Goal of Professional Science Degrees:
To create T-shaped Technical Professionals
Overall, we find some degree of mismatch
between the skills current engineers have
and the skills that employers say they are
seeking. In interviews with engineers and
managers in a wide range of firms, we find
consistent reports of skill deficits. These skill
deficits are broadly identified as
communications skills and the related ability
to work across a variety of “borders” —
organizational, technological, disciplinary, as
well as cultural and national. -Engineering and Engineering
Today's competitive industrial marketplace
calls for “T-shaped technical professional,
who have skills both broad and deep. In
addition to being deep problem solvers with
expert problem-solving skills in their home
discipline, T-shaped scientists (and
engineers) are also entrepreneurial and good
at communicating with non-specialists - Taken for
Granted, Fitting the Job Market to a T, B. Benderly, Science Career Magazine, September
05, 2008.
Skills - What's really needed for global competivenss", Salzman and Lynn, 2010.
Ability to apply knowledge and skills across a
broad range of areas
Disciplinary Skills
“We’re looking for technical
folks who can talk to
people, not just computers.”
~MBS IAB Member
MBS Curriculum Pyramid
Capstone project – two
semester company
sponsored team
consulting project
TMP
Elective
Courses
Gain work experience
in a career area of
interest
Advanced technical or
business courses oriented
towards specific careers in
Industry => students can
“major” in an area of interest
Paid Industry
Internship
Core Technical and
Business Curriculum
Copyright © 2007 Jane Creech
Undergraduate Science Degree
Graduate
science and
MBS-level
business
courses
focused on
bioscience
industries
Some Sample TMP Corporate Sponsors
www.kgi.edu
Master of Business & Science (MBS)
• Combination of a traditional MS and core of an
MBA -- integrated framework.
• Concentrated tracks in science & engineering:
–
•
•
•
•
“MBS with a concentration in ****”  profession based not academic
8 courses in science discipline, 6 in business+
Capstone course project
Internship/research component
Part-time or Full-time option