The GSV Big 10: Shake It Up, Shake It Up!

Bezos' bet, "Family College", Constitution of Academic Liberty...

ICYMI: 🎙️ Ep 5 · Ed on the Edge | Reimagining Higher Ed for Scale Impact: Dr. Bridget Burns

Having grown up in poverty in rural Montana, Dr. Bridget Burns knows how to help disadvantaged, poor students because she was once one herself. Today, as the founding CEO of the University Innovation Alliance, Dr. Burns helps universities rapidly implement and scale innovations that have increased the alliance's low-income graduates by 46% and graduates of color by 85% since 2014. This inspiring episode of Ed on the Edge is a must-watch.

#1 Generative AI Is Set to Shake Up Education | Morgan Stanley

Continuing their tradition of having a “passion for what’s possible”, Morgan Stanley analysts outline a revolution in education that we plan to be a part of. Ahead of the 15th Annual ASU+GSV Summit, the AIR Show will provide a front-row seat to the leading edge of AI in Ed.

#2 Jeff Bezos Bets on a Google Challenger Using AI to Try to Upend Internet Search | WSJ 

There’s a continuum in how you acquire knowledge…and Google and YouTube are arguably the two biggest education platforms in the World. Jeff Bezos (one of Google’s earliest angel investors) could be repeating the same playbook with Perplexity, Google’s newest competitor. 

#3 Tim Slagle on Student Loans | Instagram

When you buy a toaster that doesn’t work, you bring it back to the store and get a refund…you don’t blame Visa. Accordingly, rather than condemning the government for your low-value degree, go back to the source. More transparent data on ROI for the student consumer is clearly on the horizon.

#4 Op-Ed: Lifeline Scholarships Provide Hope to Students in Failing Public Schools | The Center Square

Our friend and Philadelphia resident Janine Yass makes a great analogy between public education and her beloved Eagles. If an NFL team has a losing record year after year, there are consequences. The same should be true for education leadership. Life isn’t a game, but time has run out on the status quo and we need to allow all students to thrive.

#5 New Family College To Benefit Two Generations of Texas Students | The 74 Million

Learning is a team sport. To acquire the learning you need on an ongoing basis requires a reimagining of the system. People cannot simply drop out of life every few years to keep their knowledge and skills up to date. El Paso Community College created Family College for parents, especially single parents, so they can attend classes while their kids participate in fun, educational courses at the same location.  

#6 How Texas A&M’s Deal with Qatar ‘Puts American Security at Risk’ | The Free Press

The Middle East has become the hub of many global activities, including imported higher education. The great thing about knowledge is when you share it with others, you don’t lose it yourself. However, in the context of challenging geopolitics, it is important to think carefully about the risks of transferring our IP to a country that may or may not be aligned with our interests.

#7 Breaking Down the Spending at One of America’s Priciest Public Colleges | WSJ 

As we highlighted in a previous Big 10 about the University of Kentucky, the last couple of decades have featured a higher-ed arms race to compete on facilities, food, and country club-like amenities. We hear a new era knocking on the door: one that prioritizes cost-effectiveness, better value, and higher return on investment.

#8 Problems at Chegg (CHGG) | The Bear Cave

Chegg, once the dominant player in homework help, now faces rapidly growing AI competition and student backlash. While Edwin Dorsey’s rapidly-growing newsletter “The Bear Cave” makes its case, there’s a Bull case here too. Led by the exceptionally capable CEO Dan Rosensweig and bolstered by early adoption of OpenAI integrations as well as its deep well of proprietary data, we see Chegg as an interesting company to stay close to.

#9 The Constitution of Academic Liberty | National Affairs

One of our favorite thinkers Niall Ferguson argues that flawed governance harms academic freedom at top universities. What’s his answer? A new constitutional model for the University of Austin centered on separated executive, trustee, and judicial powers along with protections for open inquiry. He believes these innovations can revive the university as a bastion of unfettered truth-seeking.

#10 Move Away From ‘School Choice’ in Chicago to Address Inequity | Chicago Sun-Times

We’ve made our position on supporting school choice very clear, but here’s the other side of the argument. Arguing school choice has increased segregation and inequity, two Whitney Young grads say ranking students created clear winners and losers, with privileged students increasingly benefiting at elite schools like Whitney Young. They contend that community-driven approaches like Sustainable Community Schools can instead invest in students long denied opportunity and bridge divides caused by choice and selectivity.