Super cheap online higher ed

Altius raised $8M from Spark and Maveron. It’s an online community college that partners with 4 year colleges. This week I also talked to two new $99/mo online schools that offer GenEd courses. If colleges think they’ve got budget problems, wait until 20-30% of underclassmen are knocking off most of their GenEd requirements online for $2000.
I asked one Altius backers about their areas of interest. He said online post secondary and language acquisition–both exploding with cross border potential. He asked why he should care about US k-12 as a market. Like the Union Square ‘hackers,’ VC interest in learning is growing, but there’s great reluctance to jump into the US k-12 space because it is an inefficient low growth sector.
My answer was $25B x 2. Of the roughly $600B market, the instructional materials and related services component is about $25B. That includes textbooks, tests, instructional technology, professional development, and student support services. This sector will go through a shakeup over the next 10 years and it will more than double in size as education becomes a blend of online and onsite learning.
The second reason is the English language market outside the US. Learning tools and formats with cross border potential will have an easier time getting funding. Perhaps even more common will be innovations developed in India and China imported to the more hidebound US market.
A third important reason is improved outcomes–we won’t achieve the results we seek without incorporating innovative learning tools and blended formats. However, the greater good doesn’t factor in to most venture funds. But the good news is that there are a growing number of explicitly double bottom line funds like City Light Capital for whom impact is a prime motivation.

	Beginning	Piloting	Implementing
From Fixed Standards to Competency-Based Mastery	BeginningFrom Fixed Standards to Competency-Based Mastery Beginning	PilotingFrom Fixed Standards to Competency-Based Mastery Piloting	ImplementingFrom Fixed Standards to Competency-Based Mastery Implementing
From One-Size-Fits-All to Adaptive Learning	BeginningFrom One-Size-Fits-All to Adaptive Learning Beginning	PilotingFrom One-Size-Fits-All to Adaptive Learning Piloting	ImplementingFrom One-Size-Fits-All to Adaptive Learning Implementing
From Prescribed Knowledge to Innovation & Inquiry	BeginningFrom Prescribed Knowledge to Innovation & Inquiry Beginning	PilotingFrom Prescribed Knowledge to Innovation & Inquiry Piloting	ImplementingFrom Prescribed Knowledge to Innovation & Inquiry Implementing
From Subjects as Silos to Transdisciplinary, Real-World Learning	BeginningFrom Subjects as Silos to Transdisciplinary, Real-World Learning Beginning	PilotingFrom Subjects as Silos to Transdisciplinary, Real-World Learning Piloting	ImplementingFrom Subjects as Silos to Transdisciplinary, Real-World Learning Implementing
From Schools as Self-Contained to Schools as Embedded in Communities	BeginningFrom Schools as Self-Contained to Schools as Embedded in Communities Beginning	PilotingFrom Schools as Self-Contained to Schools as Embedded in Communities Piloting	ImplementingFrom Schools as Self-Contained to Schools as Embedded in Communities Implementing
From Standardized Testing to Meaningful Assessment	BeginningFrom Standardized Testing to Meaningful Assessment Beginning	PilotingFrom Standardized Testing to Meaningful Assessment Piloting	ImplementingFrom Standardized Testing to Meaningful Assessment Implementing
From Institutional Ownership of Student Data to Student-Controlled Learning Wallets	BeginningFrom Institutional Ownership of Student Data to Student-Controlled Learning Wallets Beginning	PilotingFrom Institutional Ownership of Student Data to Student-Controlled Learning Wallets Piloting	ImplementingFrom Institutional Ownership of Student Data to Student-Controlled Learning Wallets Implementing

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