CORPORATE UNIVERSITIES 

Public education in America, to include our universities, is a disaster. This declaration usually fires up a broad swath of our education defenders, and what is their constant reply? We need more money! Are they aware that taxpayers spend over $1 trillion per year on public education in the United States? (JAM Views Post Reminder: The Government has no money. Everything is paid for by you and your neighbors.) 
We have previously discussed our lousy global rankings in math and other STEM curricula, but the true failure is our own internal lost opportunity cost. Could U.S. GDP growth be 8% instead of 2% or 4% if we finally, radically changed our education output? Could corporate productivity rates radically increase? Could median wages and incomes dramatically rise? The answer to these economic questions is, "Of course." Why do we continue to follow a 125-year-old education model when we demand a new iPhone every other year? The answer to this one is, "Unions, political votes, and entrenched interests." The worst part of the entire self-propagating system is the underutilization of an army of motivated, brilliant, altruistic teachers and professors who truly want to make the world a better place. 
Recently, Ted Dintersmith, a professor and venture capital legend, spoke with 250 college admissions directors about system-wide change, and then he sat down with Rich Karlgaard, Forbes' Editor-at-Large. One of Ted's illuminating ideas is to promote Corporate Universities. He states, "If I were Xerox, I'd set up a Xerox Academy and go get the really talented, motivated kids out of poorer high schools, kids who are going to struggle otherwise. I'd make it selective and say, 'You're now a Xerox Scholar.' Four years of coresidential, lots of intensive internships at Xerox, plus supplemental things like sports and theater. Structure it like ROTC: Do this for four years and get your Xerox degree. You'll need to stay with Xerox for four years. Xerox would get an amazing injection of next-generation leadership - that scrappy kid from Fort Wayne who just will knock down walls to make something happen, whose family can't afford most colleges. If I found the right entrepreneur who was doing this, I would write a big check for it." 

This is not only an incredible idea for an entrepreneur, but I would posit that Education Secretary Betsy DeVoss consider this idea for a nationwide new collegiate infrastructure. Full disclosure; As a U.S. Air Force Academy graduate and William & Mary MBA all 100% funded by the U.S. Air Force, I am likely biased, but I believe the benefits of this system are worth serious consideration. The military academies attract the nations' top all-around students by offering the most difficult and challenging four-year experience available. The academies trade this top education for a five-year service commitment and even up to ten or twelve year commitments for specializations, such as pilot training. The nation's top students compete in one of the most competitive admissions process to receive a Congressional Appointment, all the while knowing it will likely be the most difficult years of their lives. Even after this massive filter process, the four-year rigor produces nearly another 30% attrition rate before graduation. These students compete for the opportunity because it is hard, not because it is easy (as JFK said of our moon shot). 

Ted Dintersmith asserts, "We don't need to do obsolete things better; we need to do better things." How about McDonalds U, Apple Tech, P&G State, and THE IBM?! Think of the football teams these companies could field! To appease our non-capitalists, I want to stress that I have met multiple colonels and generals who were extremely enlightened in literature, history, and philosophy (See Patton). Great leaders understand the moral, ethical, and decision-making impacts of a well-rounded education in the humanities. Liberal arts would thrive right along with a boom in STEM. Diversity would be a non-issue because selection is based on merit instead of economics and legacies. Certainly the Martinovich family never had the means for an Ivy League tuition, and without the exchange of these degrees for a service commitment, the opportunity for this education would have never been possible. 
Bryan Caplan, recent author of "The Case Against Education: Why the Education System is a Waste of Time and Money," argues that today only 20% of the value of a degree is in building human capital. He claims 80% is just signaling to employers that this graduate was "willing to slog through four years of arduous and often boring classes and knows how to fit in." Why are we wasting $1 trillion on this? Harvard Business School recently found that 67% of production-supervisors job postings asked for a college degree, even though only 16% of employed production supervisors had one. The degree is similar to the U.S. dollar. The paper it is printed on is worthless, but it signals a value to be used in exchange, even though we are not exactly sure why. The degree process is now mostly just credentialism. 
Corporate Academies would focus on results, outcomes, and competition. The best of the best. Top Gun. Taxpayers would save a fortune. Rising tides would raise all boats. Equality of opportunities would skyrocket. Free and open debate would thrive. Inventors and entrepreneurs would flourish as the masses gained access to technology and funding for great ideas. Corporate America would be jumpstarted by an influx of students aligned with their national and global mission statements. Just as cadets and midshipmen spend their summers with the active duty forces, corporate academy cadets would fill research labs and corporate incubators and accelerators. A broad spectrum of programs in vocational, robotics, factory production, management, and think tanks would be available to supply the trained workforce necessary for the next century. Education, desires, and skill sets would be more aligned, more congruent. The efficiency and effectiveness of education would go through the roof if we took the responsibility out of the hands of the government. The current first two years of new employee training could be erased. The Millenials' twenty-two job changes before they "find themselves" would be greatly reduced. The list of benefits goes on forever. How can we promote this sea change in public policy? 
But, yes, if you believe in eliminating micro aggressions, stopping free speech, eliminating fraternities and sororities, and creating safe places, this competitive university experience is probably not for you. And that's okay. That's what is great about living in America. Just make sure that you save up enough money to pay for your college, because Mrs. Johnson in Apartment 3E next door is tired of writing that $1 trillion check for these results. I don't think she's going to do it much longer. 

"A lazy donkey placed equidistant from two bundles of hay cannot decide which one is closer, so he dies of hunger." 
- Amos Tversky 

** For more information on Jeff's Books, Blog, and Legal Challenge, please visit www.jeffmartinovich.com. 
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