Engineering education
is seriously broken.
Guaranteed Debt,
Questionable Return
The cost of a degree has skyrocketed, as has student debt. And the long-term financial benefit of choosing to attend college has gone from a sure thing to an even-odds gamble.
Teaching That’s
Stuck in the Past
Today’s students go to college and find a lecture-heavy, test-driven curriculum that hasn't changed much since the 1960s, coupled with a highly competitive, weed-out culture. It’s unsurprising that 30% of students leave engineering in their first year.
Education in
a Bubble
The disconnect between higher education and the world of work continues to grow. Employers are dissatisfied with what graduates can do. As a professional engineer who hires new grads put it, “Well, we just tell them to forget what they learned in school.”
We Need to Do Better
We can't move at the pace of incremental change anymore. If we’re going to meet the challenges our nation and our planet face, we need a step change to make engineering education drastically more affordable, more engaging, and more effective than it is today.
“In contrast to the college-focused parents of a decade ago, now almost half of American parents say they’d prefer that their children not enroll in a four-year college.”
— “AMERICANS ARE LOSING FAITH IN THE VALUE OF COLLEGE. WHOSE FAULT IS THAT?” NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE, SEPTEMBER 5, 2023
