The GSV Big 10: Should Colleges Abandon Legacy Admissions?
The GSV Big 10: Should Colleges Abandon Legacy Admissions?
Here's your weekly coverage corner for the top 10 stories, insights, and major plays in education and upskilling.
#1 PitchBook Universities: Top 100 colleges ranked by startup founders
While Stanford and Cal still lead the pack, the Silicon Valley mindset has gone global. 75% of the top 50 universities are outside New York, Massachusetts, and California. From Austin to Boston; from Shanghai to Mumbai to Dubai, there is something very powerful happening: a Global Silicon Valley is emerging.
#2 How AI will change Education: Part I 🤖
Holy AI, Batman! Humans and AI are like Batman and Robin: our creative minds will always be Batman, while AI excels at being our Robin. AI won’t replace creative thinking but accelerate creative discovery and tasks like grading, assessments, and constructive feedback.
#3 It’s time for colleges to abandon legacy admissions, new research says
Affirmative action is making the headlines, but legacy admissions also deserve a closer look. Harvard legacies are nearly six times more likely to secure admission than non-legacies and are overwhelmingly white (70% at Harvard). Discrimination takes many forms…including legacies.
#4 Web3 Credentials → A Primer
A Ph.D. costs just $100… on the black market. Fake degrees are a billion-dollar industry, but Web3 credentials can solve that with secure and tamper-proof verification, capturing everything from attendance and achievement to certifications and digital resumes. Proof-of-work? Meet proof-of-education.
#5 Byju’s eyes $1 billion IPO for physical tutor chain Aakash
While the IPO market is the quietest it’s been in 30+ years, Byju’s could make some noise with Aakash. Taking Aakash public could be the first step in Byju’s efforts to scale its edtech empire across the globe. Between the Aakash news and signing Leo Messi as a global ambassador, Byju’s is making moves.
#6 Wharton, Berkeley, NYU Offering Online M.B.A.s for the First Time
HSW? More like SOS. The traditional MBA is dead. People are tired of sacrificing time and money to sit in a classroom for two years. Elite business education is becoming distributed. Brands, networks, and outcomes are now the primary driver of business education, not GPA.
#7 U. of Florida Trustees Approve Ben Sasse as School’s Next President
We’ve seen countless educators go into politics, but not many politicians head back into education. Senator Sasse’s experience in Washington will help—not hurt—his ability to serve as a leader in higher ed. We’ll be following his efforts in Florida closely.
#8 Private education has grown faster in South Asia than any other region in the world, report shows
Affordable private schools are a megatrend. Nowhere is education valued more than South Asia, where households account for 38% of total education spending—more than triple the European and North American share (12%). Making private education faster, better, and cheaper will be a game-changer.
#9 The S Curve of Learning
There’s an “S Curve of Learning” behind the best companies in digital learning. Kahoot!, Duolingo, Photomath, and more haven’t just made learning fun—they’ve made it addictive. Mastering this dynamic will make lifelong learning a need-to-have, not just a nice-to-have.
#10 Progress report: Where higher ed stands on racial equity
It will take 70 years for all non-profit institutions to reflect underrepresented students fully in their incoming population. Between closing the endowment gap at HBCUs and investing in machine learning, we see lots of opportunities to push this timeline forward.