Do you know that studying at an Australian University was free? I believe it should be and I will even go one step further and say we should pay students to study, here's why.
"During the early 1970s, there was a significant push to make tertiary education in Australia more accessible to working and middle-class Australians. The Whitlam Labor Government abolished university fees on 1 January 1974. By the mid-1980s, however, there was consensus between both major parties that the concept of 'free' tertiary education in Australia was untenable due to the increasing participation rate." (Source)
Can you believe that? It was 'too successful' with more people wanting to study. Isn't that the point? Don't we want an educated society? I believe we do, as these students will be our next politicians, business leaders, parents and responsible for the care of the generation before. BTW if you want to see the correlation between our politicians and their degrees read this article. It turns out Josh Frydenberg is the most educated and Pauline Hanson is the least educated.
Think about that for a moment. Your very lives are dependent on the generation now in universities (or not) as they will make policies for your age care, superannuation, health care and fund it with their taxes. So why would we want to keep them from being as knowledgeable as possible? Why would restrict access to education be their best?
Education is a good investment for all Australians.
When you think of it that way it's actually non-sensical. Saving a few dollars on education now, means we have less money in the future as we compete less effectively on the world stage, reduce overall incomes and thus our tax revenue drops. Three-year savings on paying for a degree for 40 years of tax benefit. Not the right investment.
"The estimates show that for every dollar the government spends on education, GDP grows on average by $20. When the estimate is run for Australia only, the multiplier is slightly higher: an extra $1 of education expenditure increases Australian GDP by $21". (Source)
You don't need to study to make money.
I know that some out there would say that you don't need a university degree to be successful these days, and I would tend to agree. Some jobs don't require a degree, but there is always a level of education required. My electrician mate spent many long years at trade school before getting his licence, for example.
But what about the entrepreneurs that we hold in high esteem who didn't complete their degrees? Steve Jobs and Richard Branson for example. Yet Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Warren Buffett did, so I don't really find that a balanced argument.
Other benefits of education.
You don't need a degree to make money as an individual. But as a society, we know that there is a strong correlation between education and average income. More overall income in society, the more protective services for those less fortunate. Disability services, unemployment benefits and mental health for instance.
Plus, surely money isn't the only measure of success. How about the ability to critically think. That is the real value of studying. It reduces racism, one-sided thinking and individualism that is the cause of many of societies issues.
University and the different people and perspectives I met there helped me with this skill. I learnt from people of different cultures and social situations than myself that I would never have met if it wasn't for the melting pot of people brought together for a shared passion in a particular interest.
I would also argue that critical thinking is far more important than learning how to do a job. For example, I studied marketing and entrepreneurship. But I had to learn how to do marketing for myself as the pace of change in that industry is rapid. The same with entrepreneurship, technical innovation and business systems have changed at an unprecedented pace. Learning how to think enables society to adapt to change and change is one thing we can guarantee will happen (apart from death and taxes...).
Universities should be free.
It's a big vision I know. But one that I have already started working on with CampusLife.
Universities have lost their way. They don't focus on students learning and it will be their downfall as there will be alternatives. In the USA, for instance, there is a huge challenge of crippling student debt due to the greed of some institutions. "Student debt has more than doubled over the last two decades. At the end of 2020, about forty-three million U.S. borrowers owed nearly $1.6 trillion altogether in federal student loans." (Source) It's unsustainable for their economy and we are heading in the same direction.
It's time for a new model of education and we want to be part of it.
We are starting small, knowing that most people will not understand our mission. We begin with the minimum viable product, helping students connect with each other, which seems reasonable. Then we build the next part and the next, etc. Too much too soon, makes you seem crazy.
If you read the book on Elon Musk it recounts a story of how he was laughed out of NASA when he said he wanted to build a rocket to go to Mars. Probably still is occasionally. But he persisted step by step and now his company Space X has recently been chosen by NASA to build the rocket to return people to the moon. (Source) Persistence over the long term counts.
Our plan is to pay students for education, making it effectively free.
The way I plan to make this happen is in five stages.
Firstly, we create a platform for students to connect to each other and get free information on how to integrate into their university environment and assist them with their degrees. We are at risk of losing students, both international and domestic, as it's just too hard and no fun.
Secondly, we provide them with highly paid employment to create our content for other students. Thereby ensuring they can live well and enjoy their lives whilst studying without the need to sell their time cheaply. This is achieved with an advertising solution.
Thirdly, we will educate them on how to network, find mentors and employment. Once they leave university we don't want international students to return home because they can't find a job. That's very short-sighted. We want their skills and cultural diversity to add to the Australian society, we need their migration to be world leaders.
Fourthly, we begin to provide our own education courses that add to degrees in fast-changing industries. Think TikTok or big data courses for marketing today. Cyber security and AI for technology. Utilising our industry contacts to teach these courses, they will be super practical with the most up to date skills.
Finally, we will become our own learning institution. Instead of focusing on research first, we will focus on students first. We will still do research, but drive by the market. Operating in multiple locations all at once, we will offer free courses to students in exchange for working for our company. The university will, in effect, be run by the students and not the teachers. The teachers will be employed by students due to their ability to actually teach effectively and their industry skills, not their PhD's.
In this world, we will track the data. What made students more employable. Student satisfaction with teachers, courses and facilities. This data will form changes and improvements.
For too long, Universities have been insulated from the real world of industry performance. Hidden behind their protected walls of owning degrees industry respects. But change is coming, fast. Disruption always occurs in inefficient industries, you can't stop market forces. Just ask Kodak, Blockbuster or the newspaper industry.
I believe that universities should be useful, fun and free. Who's with me?
Andrew
