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Impact investors see opportunity in education

Education SDG ‘in peril’ but impact investors have taken an interest

Since colleges are failing to prepare students for tech jobs, it’s time to bring back apprenticeships

You can always tell a system is broken when you change the inputs and the outcomes don’t improve. Any software engineer will tell you that.

Losing Tech Talent? Shift It From a Bug to a Feature

A growing number of companies actually encourage tech workers to move between jobs, expanding the talent pool, and enabling more people to access high-paying careers in the industry.

The EdSheet Vol. VI

Achieve Partners acquires Ascend Partners and RiseNow
Who are they and what do they do? New York-based Achieve Partners is a private equity firm with two distinct buyout fund strategies: 1) acquiring control positions in category-leading B2B edtech companies (Edtech Buyout Fund) and...

How ChatGPT will raise the bar for millions of entry-level jobs

Getting a job fresh out of college may get harder as AI snaps up good entry-level positions, this work futurist says. Employers will be looking for more skills and experience than many early-career workers have.

This is the Dawning of the Age of Apprenticeship

If you’re looking for proof that everything old is new again, look no further than the widely circulated list of guidelines from the 1918 influenza pandemic. Many of the directives from a century ago—wear a mask, wash your hands—sound very familiar today...

Achieve Partners Invests In Procurement And Supply Chain Services Leader

Unique talent-focused fund backs RiseNow amidst increasing demand for procurement, inventory management, and supply chain technology services

Achieve Partners Invests in RiseNow

RiseNow, a Leawood, KS-based boutique advisory and strategy firm focused on procurement and supply chain, received an investment from Achieve Partners.

The End of ‘College for All’

American education should embrace apprenticeship programs to expand equality of opportunity for young people.

What if College is Not Right For You?

The protests, the politics, the price tag…for some high schoolers and their families, the traditional four-year collegiate experience isn’t that appealing. What happens if you decide to defer a year, or two, or altogether?

Earn-and-Learn Education

For at least the last 25 years, the primary goal of American K-12 schools could be summed up in three words: college for all. As a consequence, most K-12 schools today don't see career education as central to what they offer. Emphasizing vocational training...

Unlocking Genius: Back-to-School Reads for Raising Smart Kids

School is back in session, and students are facing a fresh set of challenges—assignments, tests, and the ever-present pressure to perform. For parents and educators, the question is not just how to keep up but how to help students truly thrive. To navigate this landscape...

How micro-credentials are spurring deeper collaboration between community college and employers

Enrollment in non-degree credentials has increased by 80,000 students at community colleges since 2022, according to 2024 spring enrollment data from the National Student Clearinghouse.

The Critical Need for Apprenticeships with Ryan Craig, MD Achieve Partners

“An apprenticeship, first and foremost, is a full-time job that happens to have built-in training, both formal and informal.“

AI’s Emerging Uses

While the tech’s impact on jobs is anyone’s guess, targeted tools arrive for learning and work.

Are ERPs in Decline?

ERP Systems Are Evolving, Not Declining: The argument challenges the notion that traditional Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are in decline, emphasizing that they are adapting to cloud-based environments and new SaaS platforms rather than...

School’s Out Forever: Protecting Students from College Closures

While headlines about higher education continue to be dominated by student protests and loan forgiveness, the bigger story is the rapid closure of small colleges. With COVID-19 relief funding in the rearview mirror, and as colleges hit their summer liquidity low point...

Work in progress

Amid a national hiring crisis and devalued college degrees, apprenticeships offer a debt-free path to meaningful (and lucrative) careers—and not just for the young

Some Lessons from Britain’s New Push for Education and Workforce Training

Manno: Similarities to U.S. career pathways and other career resources hint at opportunity pluralism learning agenda that could benefit both countries

Big Goals, Modest Funding

 A high-profile U.K. apprenticeship company hits pause on registered U.S. programs while the feds modestly increase funding for the apprenticeship system. Also, the White House tries to boost both economic growth and mobility with new tech hubs.

What’s Happening with Apprenticeship? – Recent Regulatory and Subregulatory Actions

Apprenticeship has been a significant focus of the Biden administration, and previously the Trump administration, with...

Texas-Based Early College High School Improves TSIA2 Passage Rate

“MasteryPrep is More Than Test Prep. It Helps Our Students Realize and Achieve Their Potential.” There is no greater reward than witnessing students’ trajectories change when they qualify for an opportunity to attend college. And at a school with a high percent of economically disadvantaged and at-risk students, every...

The New Innovator's Dilemma: Fostering Young Talent in the Age of AI

Sometimes the feedback you get earliest in your career sticks with you the most. I still remember the first meeting I led as a newly minted college graduate working in venture philanthropy. I arrived with a tidy, ambitious agenda...

The top emerging edtech companies for higher education in 2024 — edtech 20:20 vision

Higher education edtech is a busy space, and it can be hard to keep up with innovation. At Emerge Education, we want to help you see clearly. So every year, we publish a list of top emerging edtech companies...

What Investors Should Learn from the Fall of Edtech Unicorn Byju’s

In late February 2024, Indian edtech magnate Byju Raveendran was ousted from his edtech company, Byju’s, in an emergency meeting called by the shareholders. It was the latest domino to fall in a string of calamities for Byju’s...

Interesting Reads This Week

 Those of you who have ever done grading at any scale (or performance reviews for staff) know all too well the bad news sandwich - you say something critical sandwiched between two positive...

Companies are facing a skills-gap crisis that college alone can’t fix

Finding skilled workers to meet the needs of emerging industries such as AI and green energy requires new ways of thinking about old ideas.

Higher Ed Has Questions for Biden and Trump

As the president and former president face off in their first debate, we asked some of the sharpest minds in academe: What would you ask if CNN handed you the microphone? We got an earful.

As DaVinci Education Merges With Elentra, A Look Back At Its Journey To Date

On May 28, a strategic merger was announced between Durham’s DaVinci Education and Canada-based Elentra. The two healthcare edtech pioneers are poised to combine forces...

Achieve Partners Taps Former IBM Executive to Lead Digital Transformation Platform

Gene Chao joins pioneering private equity firm to accelerate talent-first approach to digital transformation

How Digital Transformation Is Transforming The Demand For Talent

Last week I had the pleasure of sitting down with Gene Chao, a technology executive who’s been on the frontline of digital transformation for the past 30 years and who is now leading a new initiative with me on digital transformation...

Opinion: To tackle the talent shortage, colleges must become ‘work experience’ brokers

'Building stronger pathways to work-based learning opportunities is critical to reversing the trend lines that are undermining confidence in higher education.'

Better Together: Elentra and DaVinci Education Combine to Drive Transformation in Healthcare Education

DaVinci Education and Elentra, both pioneers in healthcare education technology, today announced their strategic merger under the portfolio of Achieve Partners. This exciting development is strengthened by the appointment of JD White, Ph.D., as the new CEO...

Apprenticeships a hot topic at 2024 Polytechnic Showcase

Keynote predicts boom in college-run apprenticeship programs

Opinion: Rediscovering apprenticeships – An old school workforce strategy getting lots of love in a tech-driven economy

'Apprenticeships are not mere steppingstones to careers. Done right, they can create pathways to long-term social and economic mobility.'

The Next Challenge for the Class of 2024: Finding a Job

Companies are hiring fewer fresh graduates and rethinking their needs for entry-level talent

AI is ushering edtech into a new era. Three investors share what they're most excited about in the space.

The edtech industry is back in vogue with some investors, thanks in part to AI advancements. Edtech startups raised $4.3 billion in 2023, down from a $17.3 billion peak in 2021, per PitchBook. AI edtech startups Lirvana Labs...

The Divergent Roads to Post-Secondary Success

The career-success highway traditionally goes through college. Apprenticeships present an off-ramp.

102: Ryan Craig – Apprenticeships for Skill Development and Economic Growth

In this episode, I speak with Ryan Craig, who brings a wealth of knowledge from the intersection of education and workforce development. Together, we tackle the pressing issue of...

Career Education Report

 Career education is a vital pipeline to high demand jobs in the workforce. Students from all walks of life benefit from the opportunity to pursue thei...

Queen’s University Joins Elentra as a Cloud Customer

This strategic shift will foster further development and customization of the platform, which will secure Elentra’s position as the leading software platform for...

Helios Named Workday Staffing Partner

Partnership will help accelerate Helios' Horizons apprenticeship program, designed to expand access to career opportunities in fast-growing HR tech industry...

Beyond ‘College or Bust’: Apprenticeship as a Postsecondary Path to Opportunity

Ryan Craig joined me once again to talk about his new book Apprentice Nation—this time as a part of Class Disrupted with Diane Tavenner. As a school leader who for years led the charge for college-for-all but has changed her mind in recent years, Diane had lots of questions...

Elitism in Higher Ed: A Conversation with Ryan Craig

An article published in New York Magazine recently caught my attention, and if I’m honest, continues to baffle me. In it, Caitlin Moscatello describes the inner workings of a members-only club that promises to help students get into a top-tier college for a jaw-dropping...

Partnership Adds Videos and Podcasts to OpenStax Resources

Educational video company Boclips has announced a partnership with social learning platform Perusall to provide access to Boclips' videos and podcasts from within OpenStax course materials.

How Do We Build an Apprentice Nation? with Ryan Craig

In this week’s episode of Trending in Education, Ryan Craig, author of the new book Apprentice Nation: How the “Earn and Learn” Alternative to Higher Education Will Create a Stronger and Fairer America, joins host Mike Palmer to dive into...

Latest reforms to American Apprenticeships signal new opportunities for British training providers

Following Tom Bewick’s involvement in the inaugural conference of Apprenticeships for America, in Washington D.C. (March 12th-13th, 2024), here he outlines how the planned expansion of registered apprenticeship in the USA could more fully...

HIStalk Interviews Gene Scheurer, CEO, Optimum Healthcare IT

Jason Mabry and I started Optimum Healthcare IT in 2012. I had started CSI Tech, which we sold to Recruit in 2010, so we put the band back together in 2012. We were primarily focused...

Optimum Healthcare IT Founders Return, Announce Chief Digital Officer

Strategic Shift Positions Company as Premier Digital Transformation and Consulting Firm

Picking a university or college? Better trust your gut

Young Canadians are flying blind without information about post-secondary outcomes. And this “black box” is not just a problem for students.

'Best in KLAS' software and services vendors for healthcare

The "Best in KLAS" awards are for products with the broadest operational and clinical value for healthcare organizations, the research foundation said. The rankings are based on more than 26,000 evaluations, including interviews of healthcare professionals and clinicians from more than 5,000 organizations. More than 1,100 products and services were compared

Column: Why We Can’t Have Nice Things — President Biden’s Hostile Apprenticeship Takeover

Apprenticeships are one of the earliest and most productive forms of learning. Think of the historical figures who began their careers as apprentices: Jesus was a carpenter’s apprentice, Paul Revere was a silversmith’s apprentice, and George Washington was a surveyor’s apprentice.

ELEVATING EDTECH INVESTMENT: PRIORITIZING EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICES FOR LASTING IMPACT

The key conclusion from the UNESCO GEM 2023 report was that "there is little robust evidence on digital technology's added value in education”. The proliferation of low-quality learning tools, as highlighted in the report...

Apprenticeships: a Classic Solution to the Modern Problem of Worker Shortages

The U.S. labor market has become like a crazy quilt: mass layoffs in certain industries, along with dire shortages of workers in businesses ranging from accounting to trucking. To close the critical gaps, industries are turning...

What’s Really Behind the View That Higher Ed Isn’t Worth It?

This is an unsteady moment for higher education, and amid the pandemic aftershocks, demographic pressures, and self-inflicted wounds, we will definitely see more colleges close or restructure with layoffs...

Artificial Intelligence, Real Anxiety

In a little more than a year, freely available artificial intelligence technology has evolved from generating half-right passages of slightly awkward text to creating artistic original images, generating error-free computer code, and even passing an MBA exam at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

Before the Deal: What to know about M&A this year

After a few years of robust deal-making activity, mergers and acquisitions in the staffing industry slowed last year as rising interest rates, cyclical headwinds and recessionary fears spurred valuation jitters. Now buyers and sellers alike are tentative. Concerns linger that the slowdown could continue.

Diving Deep into Apprenticeships with a True Expert

 In this episode of Apprenticeship 2.0, Joe chats with Ryan Craig, Managing Director of Achieve Partners and Co-founder of nonprofit Apprenticeships for America. Joe and Ryan, who just released Apprentice Nation: How the “Earn and Learn” Alternatives to Higher Education Will Create a Stronger and Fairer America...

Is Apprenticeship the Key to Bridging the Experience Gap in Education?

Apprenticeship could be the perfect solution to moving the needle and bridging the experience gap in education. As education stands at a crossroads between educational reform and workforce development, how can apprenticeship programs revolutionize...

Leveraging Industry Experts to Transform Education

Career Education Master Plan is an opportunity to address inefficiencies that continue to reinforce gaps in our workforce.

Optimum Healthcare IT Named Workday Staffing Partner

Optimum Healthcare IT, a Best in KLAS healthcare IT staffing and consulting services company, announced today that it has been named a Workday Staffing Partner. Workday (NASDAQ: WDAY) is a leading provider of enterprise cloud applications for finance and human resources.

Interesting Reads This Week

 Well, here we are, it’s the sixth day of 2024 and my New Years resolution to be more cheerful are already long abandoned. Perhaps I need to read Atomic Habits for Analysts or SupperBetter for Independent EdTech Consultants (apologies to James Clear...

Report: Apprenticeships, Career Pathways Can Fill Talent Pipeline

Many U.S. workers are stuck. Approximately 128 million workers—more than three-fourths of the workforce—are underemployed, in need of training, or in jobs with little opportunity for advancement and better pay, according to a recent report.

Why Americans Have Lost Faith in the Value of College

Three generations of ‘college for all’ in the U.S. has left most families looking for alternatives.

Pioneering Education Investors Commit $167M to Help Schools Navigate Digital Transformation

Achieve Partners' unique new fund is investing in software solutions that accelerate learning for students and streamline processes for schools

Achieve Partners collects $167m for new edtech fund

Based in New York City, Achieve invests in software and tech-enabled services across the education spectrum, from K-12 through higher education and workforce development.

K-12 Dealmaking: Private-Equity Firm Achieve Partners Launches $167M Fund; Scholastic Makes Acquisition

Education-focused private equity fund Achieve Partners on this week formally launched its $167 million fund aimed at investing in ed-tech companies in K-12...

High School Students: Beware of College Career Centers

When it comes to advising high schoolers and families thinking about the future, we talk a lot about majors, choosing an institution, the cost of college, and the value of a degree. That’s all well and good, but it all assumes that attending college will help students find a good job.

Could the U.S. become an 'Apprentice Nation?'

Ryan Craig joined me to talk about his third book, Apprentice Nation: How the “Earn and Learn” Alternative to Higher Education Will Create a Stronger and Fairer America. In our conversation, Craig walked me through what it would take to move apprenticeship beyond the trades...

The Go-To Podcast For Tech Leaders of Today and Tomorrow

Opportunity Accelerators goes beyond the credentials and into the minds of trailblazers to explore their personal journey and the pivotal moments that led them to where they are today. Join hosts Vince Virga, Justin Vianello, and Joe Mitchell for an in-depth conversation with influential leaders of today...

Fixing Ed-Tech’s Investment Model

At least since the Clinton era, the education technology sector has often been hailed as a catalyst that will fundamentally transform global education systems. As of 2023, the market had ballooned to over $320 billion in revenue. But in the context of annual...

4 Disruptive Trends For Higher Ed In 2024

To state the obvious, 2023 was a tumultuous year in higher education. But critical questions around academic freedom, free speech, ideological diversity and more aren’t the only things driving turbulence in the sector.

Earn and Learn as You Start Your Career (with Ryan Craig)

Ravi sits down with Ryan Craig, author of Apprentice Nation: How the "Earn and Learn" Alternative to Higher Education Will Create a Stronger and Fairer America.

Ease Learning and Freedom Learning Announce Merger to Combine Similar Missions

Ed tech companies Ease Learning (EL) of Boston and Freedom Learning Group (FLG) of Lake Mary, FL, have announced a merger to strengthen the core services of each company to provide value to their clients.

Can Apprenticeships Restore the American Dream?

A conversation with “Apprentice Nation” author Ryan Craig on why “earn and learn” college alternatives are key to giving more young Americans a path to a better future.

Peeling The “College Career Services Office” Onion: Why They Are Terrible* What To Do About It

“I’m a high school leader or counselor. What should I tell our First Gen college students as they head out for college?”

What If You Could Turn Your Job Into A Degree?

Demand for the traditional bachelor’s degree is collapsing. The share of parents who say they want their children to go to college has fallen to nearly half of what it was just ten years ago. And the bachelor’s degree...

Earning and Learning: An Expert Review of Apprentice Nation by Ryan Craig

Chances are, you’re probably one of the 11.51 million Americans each year who have attended college as a full-time student. You may even be one of the 4.1 million students who actually finished your degree and graduated.

Apprenticeship Pathways: Tech and Teaching Town HallNot Yet Rated

What does a modern apprenticeship system look like? How might we set up the necessary systems to create earn and learn opportunities in technology and teaching pathways.

Cal Poly Humboldt Joins SkillStorm's Nationwide Initiative to Bridge Tech Skills Gaps...

The California State University system’s northernmost campus partners with SkillStorm to build affordable, accessible pathways to tech careers; close skill gaps...

Why Higher Ed Needs to Be Disrupted

But not through the disruptions that the disrupters tout.

Apprenticeships Offer ‘Learn and Earn’ Pathways to Opportunity

The expansion of apprenticeship programs has solid support among employers and young adults

Ease Learning and Freedom Learning Group Announce Merger, Position for Growth

Trailblazers in skills-based learning combine operations to enhance capabilities while supporting the employment and upskilling of military spouses and veterans

Are Apprenticeship Programs The Answer To The Skills Gap?

In this episode, host David Rice is joined by Ryan Craig—Managing Director at Achieve Partners—to talk about the challenges facing apprenticeship programs...

Apprenticeships are headed off the shop floor and into the office

Faced with a labor shortage and diversity goals, employers are creating apprenticeships for office work

A Blueprint For Expanding Apprenticeships

Confidence in higher education is falling, and with it college enrollment. Many prospective students are no longer confident that a traditional college degree will equip them with the skills required to succeed in the labor market. There is demand for alternatives: an American Compass survey found...

Apprentice Nation: How the “Earn and Learn” Alternative to Higher Education Will Create a Stronger and Fairer America

Ryan Craig is a managing director at Achieve Partners, a venture capital and private equity firm. Ryan’s commentary regularly appears in the biweekly Gap Letter, Forbes...

Apprenticeships Offer ‘Learn and Earn’ Pathways to Opportunity

Apprenticeship programs, where individuals earn a living while learning with a mentor, are turning the workplace into the new learning campus.

Goodbye College Career Services & Hello 1-on-1 Coaching with Real Talk to Get a Job

Why don't career services work at colleges? For those in higher ed, the answers are often well known, but for those who don't work in higher...

Apprenticeships are the new learning campus

College for all has been the goal of K–12 schools for at least twenty-five years. This has meant that America’s schools typically do not provide young people with work experience. This experience gap has young people leaving high school with little understanding of work...

Legitimizing Work-Based Learning After High School

Why apprenticeships should be an option like applying to college, college advertising in airports, and changes in youth participation rates in athletics.

Winter Park Institute speaker series lives again

Popular speaker series, The Winter Park Institute (Website), is back in action as an independent non-profit, under the direction of Lauren Zimmerman, the owner of Writer’s Block Bookstore, and Jeffrey Blyndenburgh. The series is slated to return on November 10 with...

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Partners with SkillStorm to Train Tech Talent Across the Midwest

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) and tech talent training company SkillStorm have partnered to offer tech skills credential programs in order to upskill the workforce across the state and in the Midwest and thus provide a talent pool to meet increasing demand to fill tech jobs.

Apprenticeships are the Key Alternative in Redefining Education Geared Towards a Successful Career

As the world grapples with an evolving job market and an era where the traditional college degree no longer guarantees a successful career, there’s a new conversation emerging around alternative pathways to employment. Underemployment rates for recent graduates is rampant...

‘Apprenticeship is unlike any other training or educational program or pathway. It’s a job first and foremost.’

A four-year college education has played a vital role in the economic growth and prosperity for many people in this country, but it has not been the silver bullet for everyone for a variety...

The Edge: They’re interns, not gofers

An internship is one of the most useful tools to prepare college students for careers — and as I described in April, there’s research that proves this. But it takes more than luck to ensure internships really pay off. Colleges can play a key role in that. Ditto for employers.

In the Age of A.I., America Needs Apprentices

Old-School Training Can Prepare College Graduates for Today’s Workplace

Is the ‘American Dream’ Holding Back Apprenticeship?

Ryan Craig is all in on apprenticeship. As an investor and author, Craig has long focused on college alternatives like bootcamps. But in recent years he’s been bullish on apprenticeships. As the co-founder of the nonprofit Apprenticeships for America, Craig says government incentives for...

Student Housing at Sea

Higher ed has a student housing crisis, Ryan Craig writes.

Never mind the degrees – here's skills-based hiring

The Office of Personnel Management is working on a skills-based classification and qualifications policy, set to be released by the end of this fiscal year.

How rising student loan interest rates could affect college-going behavior

Borrowers pursuing graduate education face rates over 7%, but new federal loan policies may make rising costs somewhat irrelevant.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln launches new upskilling program

 UNL joined a nationwide initiative to help fill talent gaps in the Midwest’s tech workforce and boost professional development opportunities.

Inside HLC’s new effort to vet outside credential providers

The accreditor recently launched an initiative called the Credential Lab, which will implement an evaluation model for outside content providers.

Why This EdTech Founder Is Bringing Back Apprenticeships

Founded in 2016, Euan Blair's Multiverse has trained more than 10,000 apprentices, worked with over 1,000 organizations to get them hired, and is now the U.K.'s first edtech unicorn.

What 2U’s new flat fee model could mean for the online degree sector

Higher education experts say appetite could be growing for alternatives to tuition-share agreements, which have been under fire.

Fast-Growing Cybersecurity Provider Supports U.S. Government Agencies in Addressing Expanding Threat Exposure Landscape

Already fulfilling federal contracts, UltraViolet Cyber brings decades of industry leadership providing unique offensive and defensive security strategies.

Top 250 MSSPs: Cybersecurity Company List and Research for 2023

250. Kairos Defense
Kairos Defense is a pioneering cybersecurity company located in South Texas's Rio Grande Valley, dedicated to safeguarding digital assets and infrastructure...

Five Priorities When Selecting A Fundraising Solution

Are you evaluating a new fundraising or advancement CRM? If so, it's essential to consider a solution that goes beyond the basics. While constituent management (i.e., donor profile, householding, addresses), gift management (i.e., soft credits, designations, accounting...

Tri-C announces new partnership with tech talent accelerator

Technology giants Facebook, Google and Amazon Web Services are now based in Ohio, and the industry requires a trained workforce. Attempting to meet the demand for qualified talent, Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) has announced a new partnership with SkillStorm.

The Future of Upskilling in a Disrupted Workplace – Part 1 of 2

In the wake of rapid technological advancements, the global workplace is undergoing a seismic disruption shift, and the future of upskilling workers is a more critical challenge than ever before.

Elentra Corp announces its acquisition by Achieve Partners

 Elentra Corp today announced that it has been acquired by Achieve Partners, a leading social impact investment firm focused on digital transformation in the Medical and Allied Health Sciences Education market. Built by universities...

KLAS Report Reviews EHR Education Software for Content, Analytics

Epic, athenahealth, and Med Power customers have fully deployed out-of-the-box capabilities for EHR education assessment and analytics, KLAS found.

How to Create New Tech Talent to Fill the Government’s Tech Skills Gap

ClearanceJobs chatted with Vince Virga, chairman and co-founder of Skillstorm. Skillstorm trains and deploys developers and tech talent to help assist companies and government agencies with their workforce needs. Skillstorm also works directly with talent to help them upskill...

Partnership Aims to Expand, Diversify Georgia’s IT Workforce

The Technology Association of Georgia is partnering with SkillStorm to help train and upskill tech talent — with a targeted program aimed to support Black Georgians’ entry into the tech field.

Investment In Overhead Improves Outcomes

In ancient Egypt, the Nile River provided fertile land for farming, but the annual floods often destroyed crops. To combat this, the Egyptians developed a system of irrigation and flood control, allowing them to plant more seeds and increase crop yields. They also used crop rotation and fertilization techniques to maintain...

Why Failure Is Crucial To Success

 The best of the best fail. It's how you respond that leads to success. In a recent interview, I was asked to reflect on the last decade of my company, Cloud for Good, and share what I would have changed...

LSU partnering with SkillStorm to offer online tech training courses

LSU Online & Continuing Education has launched a training partnership with SkillStorm to offer online courses with the goal of providing Louisiana employers with a greater talent pool of tech …

Credentials of Value

Is it possible to measure the quality of nondegree credentials? A sneak peek at a project to measure the quality and ROI of nondegree credentials. Also, Louisiana backs Coursera’s Big Tech certificates, CodePath and Amazon team up, and how to embed equity in credential data.

Out-of-State Tuition

An argument to repeal out-of-state tuition premiums. Last week’s IHE piece about flagship universities recruiting out-of-state students for the tuition premium hit a bit close to home. Having sent both kids to out-of-state flagships (at substantially higher tuition than Rutgers, our state’s flagship), I am part...

Edtech Insiders

Building Apprenticeship Nation with Ryan Craig of Achieve Partners

Workday Talent Gap whitepaper

The unique Workday ecosystem is a case study in how decisions by a single successful company can create labor market dislocation. Because Workday nurtured its cloud platform for managing human resources to ensure customer success, it became the dominant platform over the past decade, allowing companies to continuously consume new and updated...

Ryan Craig on AI, Apprenticeships and the Experience Gap

It is harder to scale pathways if they don’t have a reliable, guaranteed option for employment at the end of them.

The Great State School Student-Swapping Scandal

Student swapping across public flagships is America’s most expensive game of musical chairs, Ryan Craig writes.

The Deloitte On Cloud Podcast

As digital transformation initiatives accelerate, many companies continue to see talent shortages in key areas. In this episode, David Linthicum talks with SkillStorm's Chairman and Co-Founder Vince Virga about his successful solution to the problem. SkillStorm connects companies...

ASU Unveils New Apprenticeship Program for HR Tech Careers

Arizona State University (ASU) announced a new apprenticeship program designed to expand access to high-demand HR tech careers for ASU students and alumni. The initiative was developed through a collaboration with Helios Consulting, an advisory partner of Workday, the HR tech platform of...

The next big thing in coding bootcamps in 2023: Apprenticeships

While it may seem like coding bootcamps have always been a part of the tech economy’s source code, they are actually a relatively new addition to the education sphere. As alternatives to traditional degree programs, bootcamps are well on their way to becoming a $1.2 billion industry...

Equity in the Last Mile

A lot has been written about last-mile training programs that provide just-in-time training around the specific skills and business experiences that employers are looking for in their open positions.

Impact investments meeting financial expectations, exit study finds

The majority of impact investments are meeting or exceeding financial performance expectations, according to a study released Wednesday by ICM Institute, a non-profit research arm of the Impact Capital Managers, an association of private capital funds...

New Study by Impact Capital Managers and Morrison Foerster Shows Almost Two-Thirds of Impact Exits Meet or Exceed Financial Performance Expectations

ICM Institute, a nonprofit research arm of the Impact Capital Managers (ICM), a membership association of leading private capital funds, together with leading global law firm Morrison Foerster, today published a new report...

Virtual One-Stop Connects Students to Success Resources

A recently launched Student Success Hub at Western Michigan University gives students access to their support team and advisers with a click of a button.

Alchemy announces strategic partnership with Boclips, the world's largest educationally curated video platform, to address faculty demand for multimedia educational content

Alchemy today announced that it has entered into a strategic partnership with Boclips, whose collections of fully-licensed, curriculum-aligned media resources...

Apprenticeships on the Rise

A burgeoning alternative challenges the college-for-all mentality. Lakshmi Balasubramaniam had tried to launch her career by the traditional route. It just wasn’t working the way she wanted. Balasubramaniam, 25, went to college...

UltraViolet Cyber launches to address the ever-expanding cyber threat

UltraViolet Cyber has unveiled its launch to provide organizations across the globe with a streamlined approach to address the ever-expanding cyber threat.  Created through the combination of four pioneering firms — Metmox, Mosaic451, Stage 2 Security, and W@tchTower — UltraViolet Cyber brings together decades of expertise...

Four cybersecurity firms merge to create McLean's UltraViolet Cyber

With backing from private equity, four cybersecurity companies have combined into one and have set up shop in Northern Virginia. The New York investment firm Achieve Partners acquired two local firms — McLean-based W@tchTower and Stage 2 Security in Lanham — along with Phoenix-based Mosaic451 and Metmox in Schaumberg, Illinois...

MSSP UltraViolet Cyber Launches Security-as-Code Platform - MSSP Alert

UltraViolet Cyber, an MSSP and unified security operations solutions provider, has released a security-as-code platform that combines offensive and defensive security capabilities to help organizations address current and emerging cyber threats, according to the company.

This new company wants to combine red and blue teams into a novel, purple approach

UltraViolet Cyber, launching today, is a combination of startups Metmox, Mosaic451, Stage 2 Security and W@tchTower. Starting today, purple is the new shade of cybersecurity in Northern Virginia.

New Apprenticeship Program Will Help Recent College Graduates Access Careers in HR Tech

 Helios Consulting — an advisory partner of Workday, the HR, finance, and planning platform of choice for over 10,000 companies worldwide including half of the Fortune 500 — today announced the expansion of its Rise Apprenticeship program launching an online version to expand its reach helping recent...

How to Ease the Path to Adulthood

Uncertainty, confusion and psychological stress have always accompanied the tempest-tossed process of maturation. Here’s how to make that problematic journey smoother.

Durable Skills

A new group picks up steam in its push for funding of intermediaries that help set up and run apprenticeships. Also, an employer-backed project on “durable” skills, which could boost skills-based hiring, and a key Democrat budges on the fight over for-profits accessing Pell Grants for short-term programs.

Is it possible to avoid student debt? These career, education tracks offer a different path

No one knows what the Supreme Court will decide on student debt cancellation, but for some people, it won’t matter. They’re already forging toward a future with little to no student debt to haggle over.

6 Books Every Edtech Founder Needs to Read in 2023 - Newsletter #63

Today, we are going to share 6 book recommendations that you should read in 2023. Each book here is a treat and will prepare you to take on this year of massive change.

Workforce, Impact Investors Back National Nonprofit Focused on Scaling Apprenticeships

Walton Family Foundation, Ascendium, Schmidt Futures, Schultz Family Foundation, and Irvine Foundation join Strada and ECMC to support Apprenticeships for America; accelerate intermediaries that help set up and run apprenticeship programs for employers

Mount St. Mary’s is partnering with SkillStorm on a new tech training effort

Based at the Catholic university's Frederick campus, the program aims to offer noncredit virtual courses to those who want certifications in AWS, CompTIA, Salesforce and other high-demand tech platforms and languages.

Spalding University Unveils Initiative to Bridge the Skills Gap

Spalding University recently unveiled a new initiative specifically designed to increase student access to the region’s fast-growing tech industry. The program empowers current students, alumni, community members, and university staff to gain valuable...

Is Higher Ed’s ‘Monopoly on Opportunity’ Coming to an End?

In the fall of 2020, soon after Who Gets In and Why was released, I was on Zoom with parents in Southern California. They were from a group of high schools in the type of communities where you know from the moment your kids were born that they were going to college.

MasteryPrep Acquisition by Achieve Partners Marks a Milestone for the Louisiana Startup Ecosystem

Nexus Louisiana Tech Park member MasteryPrep, which provides test-prep and college-readiness resources for historically underserved schools, is being acquired by private equity firm Achieve Partners. The acquisition...

Carleton Is Latest Liberal Arts College To Add Tech-Based Apprenticeships

Carleton College, a highly regarded private college in Northfield, Minnesota, is the latest example of a liberal arts college adding technically based apprenticeships to prepare its students and graduates for early-career employment in the business sector.

40 Ideas to Shake Up Your Hiring Process

Despite challenging economic conditions, companies are still finding it difficult to attract and retain the right talent. That’s one of the takeaways from the most recent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report, which showed that job vacancies still remain above 10 million as of November 2022. We’ve confirmed that trend...

Biden’s New Student Loan Plan Could Come With Painful Side Effects

Policy makers and pundits on both sides of the aisle can’t stop talking about President Biden’s splashy loan forgiveness plan, now stalled by lawsuits. But politicians and lawyers are focusing on the tip of the iceberg. As a new announcement makes clear, lurking below the surface is an even more problematic...

Helping College Students Gain Essential Skills

To position students for success beyond the campus greens, higher education institutions and corporations must band together to better prepare students for entering the workforce. With the aim to build strong connections with the local region and to increase student access to promising career pathways, new partnerships can help...

It takes a village

Over the past decade, the increasing demand for tech talent has led to an explosion of new training providers. Nearly all of them claim to be faster, cheaper and more job-aligned than the traditional degree pathways laid down by two-year colleges and four-year universities. Many have built their reputations on the idea...

MasteryPrep deal boosts Baton Rouge startup network: 'You can hit home runs here'

The fledgling business and investors that make up a Baton Rouge startup network got a big boost last month when MasteryPrep, a company that prepares children for standardized tests, was acquired by a New York-based educational investment firm in what officials said was one of the highest prices paid for a local tech firm.

How America’s newest elected leaders can fix its broken higher ed system

Opinion: A redesigned postsecondary education system would give high school graduates the opportunity to choose between a more traditional college pathway and skills-based training and education

University of Texas, Google team up on career training for students

The University of Texas System and Google on Dec. 9 announced that the university would begin offering Google Career Certificates to students at eight of the system’s institutions. The certificates will be built into undergraduate degree programs and offered as co-curricular experiences...

MasteryPrep, CDR Software transactions top November M&A Activity

Two Louisiana technology companies that are meeting challenges accelerated by the COVID pandemic sold in November. One is focused on education and the other in supply chain management.

Carleton joins fast-growing tech apprenticeship initiative

The partnership with Helios Consulting aims to close the HR tech talent gap by providing training and paid employment opportunities to students and recent graduates.

UWM Launches Tech Apprenticeships to Close HR Skills Gap

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) unveiled a new effort to help both current students and alumni access career opportunities in the fast-growing HR tech industry. Known as the Rise apprenticeship program, the initiative was designed in partnership with Helios Consulting, an advisory partner of Workday...

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to offer HR apprenticeships

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Dec. 7 announced a new apprenticeship program for students and recent graduates interested in human resources. The Rise apprenticeship program provides training on the human resources platform Workday, and is offered by...

How To Get A First Job If You Aren’t LinkedIn

It’s hard to get hired fresh out of college – doubly so if you are graduating from an under-the-radar school or don’t have plugged-in parents. Forbes 30 Under 30 alum Garrett Lord built Handshake to help.

The new way to hire tech workers: from the bottom up

As a dearth of tech talent continues to plague business, companies are getting more creative in how they find and train workers to fill key roles. Apprenticeships are among the fastest growing trends in discovering hidden talent.

U Minnesota College of Liberal Arts Partners with Helios Consulting to Offer Rise Apprenticeship Program

The University of Minnesota (UMN)'s College of Liberal Arts (CLA) has announced a partnership with Helios Consulting to offer graduates a chance to gain human resource technology skills through paid employment and training in its Rise Program, an apprenticeship designed...

Connecting Graduates to Hot Tech Apprenticeships

Higher education institutions, employers, and students are well aware of the discrepancy between the competencies and experiences that employers look for in potential hires and the skills of recent graduates. Leaders in the field are brainstorming solutions to bridge the gap, teaming up with...

The Metaverse Is Built on University Innovation. Higher Ed Should Stake Its Claim

The past 12 months may be a year that will live in infamy for fans of the metaverse. Meta itself, the artist formerly known as Facebook, spent $10 billion on building its grand vision of a digital world and allocated $150 million to immersive learning projects, including funds for universities to create digital versions...

Boclips, the world's largest educationally curated video platform, announces strategic partnership with OpenStax, addressing student demand for video-enriched content

Boclips, whose collections of curriculum-aligned videos and podcasts help education providers enhance student learning experiences worldwide, is announcing...

University of Central Florida and SkillStorm Partner to Expand Access to Tech Credential Courses

Research school University of Central Florida (UCF) has announced a partnership with SkillStorm to make courses available that will qualify students to earn the credentials necessary to work for major tech employers.

MasteryPrep acquired by education investing firm

Baton Rouge-based education tech startup MasteryPrep was acquired this week by investing firm Achieve Partners for an undisclosed amount.  MasteryPrep was founded in 2013 by Craig Gehring, who was named Business Report’s Young Businessperson of the Year in 2020.

Achieve Partners acquires MasteryPrep to improve college readiness for underserved students

New York-based Achieve Partners is acquiring Baton Rouge, La.-based edtech company MasteryPrep. MasteryPrep has worked with more than 500 U.S. school districts on college readiness...

Hire-Train-Deploy | ASU+GSV 2022

Susan Wright (Cloud for Good), Geoff Blanding (Optimum HIT), Teron Buford (Avenica), Cassidy Leventhal (Achieve Partners), and Joe Mitchell (SkillStorm) on Hire-Train-Deploy at the 2022 ASU+GSV Summit.

HBS Professor, Former Senior Workday Executive Join Board of HRIS Training Pioneer

Helios welcomes Joe Fuller and Leighanne Levensaler to accelerate its efforts to close the Workday talent gap

UCF latest Florida university to join tech industry credential initiative

The University of Central Florida is the latest Florida school to join SkillStorm’s Upskill Together initiative after Florida State University, Florida International University, and the University of Tampa entered the collaboration early in October...

Euan Blair apprenticeship firm gets licence to award degrees

Tony Blair was the prime minister who met his aim of enrolling more than half of all young people in higher education by this century. Now his son is pioneering a way of awarding degrees with no need for a university or college at all.

A Degree of Uncertainty

A Degree of Uncertainty (documentary short)

The Problem With College Is So Much Bigger Than Student Debt

Biden’s plan is a Band-Aid solution to a bigger issue: A low return on tuition for too many people. But there’s still hope for a better system.

WorkingNation Overheard: Cassidy Leventhal on the ROI of hiring

Tearing the paper ceiling can create workforce opportunity for STARs, people Skilled Through Alternative Routes by eliminating the college degree requirement. A new campaign from Opportunity@Work and the Ad Council encourages companies to make hires from this talent pool. Cassidy Leventhal, VP with Achieve Partners, says the move to drop...

Yale in Houston

Houston represents America’s future, and higher ed is not stepping up to meet it, Ryan Craig writes.

Revealed: First solely apprenticeship provider granted degree awarding powers

Multiverse has become the first solely apprenticeship provider in England to be granted degree awarding powers. The company – the brainchild of its chief executive Euan Blair, son of the former UK prime minister Tony Blair – announced the feat today following...

Cal State Fullerton Offers Tech Skills to Adult Learners

To meet the needs of employers and help minimize the persistent equity gaps in California’s technology workforce, California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) has partnered with SkillStorm on an initiative meant to give access to certification courses in high-demand technologies to students...

Building a Digital Ladder

Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union three decades ago, despite many missteps, America has retained its position as the world’s foremost power, principally due to its digital leadership and economic gains therefrom. Nearly all the most important digital milestones have taken place here...

Education Investors’ Latest Fund Will Deploy $180 Million to Building Apprenticeships in High-Demand Fields

Pioneering education investors Ryan Craig and Daniel Pianko announced the close of a new $180 million fund dedicated to creating faster pathways to good jobs.

How Apprenticeships Could Address the Tech Worker Shortage

As companies seek workers with the right skills amidst a technologist shortage, apprenticeships are an option to consider.

Achieve Partners' Latest Workforce Investment Takes Aim at Workday Skills Shortage

Helios Consulting's unique training model helps meet growing demand for expertise in dominant human capital management platform

Achieve Partners Acquires Helios Consulting

Achieve Partners, a private equity investor, has acquired Helios Consulting, a certified Workday Advisory partner helping employers streamline human capital management.

Achieve Partners notches exit of tech training venture Genuent

Achieve Partners invested in Houston-based Genuent, a tech staffing company, as part of its strategy to accelerate apprenticeship programs in sectors of the U.S. economy grappling with skills shortages. The New York-based private equity firm has sold Genuent to A&M Capital Partners, a private equity firm with $2.9 billion in assets under management.

TekPartners, a P2P Company, and Genuent Announce Merger to Become INSPYR Solutions, a Leading Staffing & Solutions Firm

TekPartners, a subsidiary of P2P Staffing Corporation (“P2P”), and Genuent Holdings, LLC (“Genuent”) announced today that...

A Different Downturn? The Skills Gap In A Possible Recession, The Most Expensive Cities And More: Forbes Careers

Worried yet? Every day brings new headlines about hiring slowdowns and job cuts, and we’ll know more when Friday’s jobs report comes out what the latest data really says. But in many...

Northeastern-Mills merger is official, creates ‘something truly unique in higher education’

The presidents of the institutions described it as a history-making milestone that will empower a new generation, while higher education observers called it a first-of-a-kind, forward-thinking collaboration between two iconic institutions.

State licensure shows America has procedure problem

In America today, nearly 25 percent of jobs require licensure. In the name of consumer protection, states have delegated occupational licensure to professional associations, which then decide how high a fence to erect around the profession.

Riipen’s Post

Our CEO Dana Stephenson spoke to George Affleck on Global News Jill Bennett Show yesterday about Riipen’s Level UP program.

FSU Panama City taps pioneering talent developer to accelerate pathways to tech careers

Florida State University Panama City is partnering with SkillStorm, a tech talent accelerator, to launch technology-based training courses for students, alumni and professionals looking to advance their careers in the tech industry.

Achieve Partners Acquires Majority Stake in World's Largest Educational Rich Media Provider

Achieve Partners today announced that it has acquired a majority stake in Boclips, whose library of video and audio content is used by publishers, schools, universities and Ministries of Education around the world. Achieve's backing will enable Boclips, which has aggregated...

Multiverse nabs $220M at a $1.7B valuation to expand its tech apprenticeship platform

We’ve been tracking a worrying trend of layoffs in the technology industry, but that is not the full story. There is, concurrently, a wave of organizations that are also in the process of training and hiring to fill a number of technology-related roles...

Riipen's Level UP Remote Internship Program Enters Impact-Driven Second Phase to Continue Making...

A new round of Federal Government funding for the Level UP program will support 18,000 new fully-subsidized remote paid internships for Canadian post-secondary learners and employers over the next two years.

Class Agreed to Acquire Blackboard Collaborate. Here’s What That Means

The fast-growing startup Class Technologies will acquire the virtual classroom tool Blackboard Collaborate, according to an announcement last week.

SkillStorm acquires Talent Path

SkillStorm acquired Talent Path, a company that operates on a recruit-train-deploy model. “Talent Path is a company we’ve been following for several years,” SkillStorm CEO Justin Vianello said. “Like SkillStorm...

SkillStorm acquires recruit-train-deploy staffing provider Talent Path

SkillStorm acquired Talent Path, a company that operates on a recruit-train-deploy model. “Talent Path is a company we’ve been following for several years,” SkillStorm CEO...

College Is About to Get Its Own Tea Party

Unless colleges and Democrats take pre-emptive action, the Biden administration’s student loan moratorium qua forgiveness could easily lead to a Republican war on higher education.

Euan Blair: I can make more of a difference with apprenticeships than by following my dad Tony into politics

The former prime minister’s son now has an estimated net worth of £160m after his company went global – and he believes he has found a path to creating a fairer society

Don’t Look Up: Higher Education’s Missing Science/Tech Leaders

Less selective universities should hire more senior administrators with STEM backgrounds—or risk shortchanging their students in competition for the best jobs, Ryan Craig argues.

Success Story: Joshua Williams

How one Pathstream student pivoted careers from program manager to Salesforce professional at Cloud for Good.

Embedding DEI initiatives into healthcare talent recruitment

Optimum’s Geoffrey Blanding shares training approaches to recruit the next generation of healthcare IT talent.

How to Build a Better University

It’s time to move beyond the Utility U/Utopian U divide.

Daniel Pianko, Achieve Partners: Finding the alpha in apprenticeships (podcast)

Daniel Pianko likes to ask CEOs, “What’s the biggest problem you face?” If the answer is, “I can’t find enough trained people to do X,” the company is a good candidate for Achieve Partners.

If You Want A Candid And Transparent Culture, Try This CEO's Technique

It's high time to hold institutions accountable for learning, completion, affordability, equity, student satisfaction and program outcomes.

The Need for Greater Accountability in Higher Education

It's high time to hold institutions accountable for learning, completion, affordability, equity, student satisfaction and program outcomes.

3 major trends affecting ed tech companies

We reviewed what executives said during their latest earnings calls to better understand patterns in the growing sector. Much like the year before, 2021 was a good time to be in ed tech.

Cloud for Good Announces Talent for Good Dallas Hub

Cloud for Good, alongside the University of North Texas at Dallas (UNT Dallas) and Dallas College, today announced a partnership to provide an apprenticeship pathway to jobs in the Salesforce ecosystem for new and recent graduates. This announcement comes after Cloud for Good...

Private equity firm acquires healthcare staffing provider Ro Health

Private equity firm Achieve Partners acquired Ro Health, a staffing firm providing healthcare professionals to schools. With the acquisition, Achieve Partners aims to launch a training program that will prepare entry-level workers with the skills to obtain full-time healthcare jobs.

Achieve Partners acquires Ro Health to create apprenticeships for school health workers

New York-based Achieve Partners has acquired Ro Health, a Seattle-based medical staffing and home health agency, to advance an apprenticeship program for entry-level healthcare workers, primarily school nurses and behavioral therapists.

Workforce Fund Invests in School Staffing Agency in Response to Growing Healthcare Crisis

Achieve Partners today announced an investment in Ro Health, one of the fastest-growing providers of nursing and behavioral therapy solutions in school and home health environments. The acquisition is the latest in Achieve's new fund, which helps companies build in-house training...

Multiverse’s Euan Blair on apprenticeships as the future

Tony Blair's eldest son Euan Blair founded an apprenticeship startup called Multiverse in 2016. Five years later, it has closed a Series B and a Series C round, which brings it total funding to $194 million. UNLEASH caught up with Euan Blair to discuss how apprenticeships could fill skills gaps.

No college degree? More employers than ever just don't care

If you don't have a four-year college degree, you're hardly alone. The majority of US working age adults do not. You may assume you have little chance of developing a well-paying career with benefits and growth potential at a Fortune 500...

Creating a Skilled Workforce to Build Back Better

In an era of natural disasters and pandemics, Build Back Better is a fair name for a policy platform. President Biden wants America to invest in new roads, bridges, digital systems, solar power, and electric cars.

Online Learning Platform Udemy’s Share Price Slips On First Day Of Trading

Udemy, an 11-year-old platform for online classes, went public on the Nasdaq today. Its shares, which opened at $29, fell 5% in the first day of trading to $27.50, valuing the company at $3.7 billion.

Optimum Healthcare IT Wins 2021 CHIME Foundation Partner Award

CHIME recognizes Optimum's Outstanding Contributions to the Healthcare Industry

Daniel Pianko and Nasir Qadree of Investing in the Future of Learning

An increasing amount of funds are seeking impact — both learner gains as well as financial returns. That means that edupreneurs being thoughtful about delivering valuable products and services are finding it easier to secure funding and scale impact.

Re-imagining Higher Education Through a Career-Readiness Lens

With employers and students both increasingly feeling like their degree programs aren’t adequately preparing learners for work, higher education institutions need to make sure they are delivering relevant, stackable and experiential learning.

Apprenticeship opportunities finder Multiverse masters $130 million

London’s apprenticeship finder Multiverse has found $130 million of its own in a Series C funding round. This funding arrives just 8 months since the company’s healthy $44 million Series B round, and now gives the startup a total of $194 million in the bank.

Multiverse, the tech-focused apprenticeship startup, nabs $130M at an $875M valuation

After rebranding from White Hat and raising $44 million earlier this year, tech apprenticeship startup Multiverse has raised another round of funding. The company today announced that it has closed $130 million in a Series C round.

Ryan Craig, Managing Director at Achieve Partners: Designing Solutions for 10 Million Unfilled Jobs

If you’re wondering why there are ten million unfilled jobs in the U.S. despite having an unemployment rate above pre-pandemic levels, Ryan Craig has part of the answer: traditional higher education is too expensive and can’t keep up with...

Reminding Congress of Workforce Education

Advocates and stakeholders are concerned that proposed new investments in community colleges are too focused on traditional higher education, leaving little for job-based learning.

Is the ‘bootcamp’ market really in the millions?

Coding bootcamps have once again captured the popular imagination. College enrollments have fallen substantially during the pandemic—and while there are a lot of reasons, Americans consistently say they’re interested in shorter education and training. Congress, too, is considering a major expansion...

Achieve Partners Acquires Metmox: MSSP and Investor Details

Metmox, based in Schaumburg, Illinois, has roughly 200 employees, the company tells MSSP Alert.

Students skip college

As more and more employers nix college degrees as a hiring requirement, students are choosing cheaper, faster alternatives to college like coding boot camps.

What Students Should Study

Students shouldn’t have a choice whether to learn quantitative skills such as data fluency. Colleges must ensure that they do, Ryan Craig writes.

Achieve Partners acquires Metmox to create apprenticeships for cybersecurity

There will be an estimated 1.8 million unfulfilled cybersecurity jobs in the U.S. next year. That makes the industry a candidate for Achieve Partners’ Putting America Back to Work fund, which addresses critical skills gaps in the U.S. by buying companies...

The new marketplaces connecting school and work

Evidence continues to roll in that American workers are out of position for the high-value jobs of today and tomorrow. Start with the fact that there are 7.3 million unfilled jobs, millions of which are high-skill positions in IT, professional services and healthcare. Then add that employment growth in IT...

Will a Bachelor’s Degree Matter as Much for Gen Z?

Faster and cheaper pathways to good first jobs are poised to supplant slow, expensive bachelor’s degrees (particularly from non-selective colleges and universities) in Gen Z’s affections. Gen Z has already been prejudiced against large upfront investments. Why buy a car when...

Optimum Healthcare IT acquired by Achieve Partners

Private equity firm Achieve Partners acquired Optimum Healthcare IT, a provider of healthcare IT staffing and solutions headquartered in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, The acquisition is the first in Achieve Partners’ Putting America Back to Work Fund. Optimum Healthcare IT’s offerings include Optimum CareerPath, a paid apprenticeship program that helps to develop healthcare IT workers.

UTSA Alumni Association Joins Optimum CareerPath Partner Program

Optimum Healthcare IT, a Best in KLAS healthcare IT staffing and consulting services company, announced that they have partnered with The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) Alumni Association in the Optimum CareerPath program. The CareerPath program is the first apprenticeship...

Rethinking Higher Education #5 — Dana Stephenson from Riipen

Riipen has experienced significant growth during 2020, with several partnerships secured, a nearly doubled headcount, and an 80% growth of new experiences delivered...

Federal work-study needs to grow up

Even before COVID, American higher education was facing a crisis of employability. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, well over 40 percent of new college graduates were underemployed in their first job. We also know that two thirds...

Here’s a rewarding investment: Boost the U.S. recovery by...

The booming stock market has masked the wide gaps in the U.S. economy and labor markets that are increasingly a threat to a full recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Many low-income workers face the prospect that their jobs may never come back...

UNF paving the way for grads to succeed in the new economy

UNF was recognized on a national podcast, “Post Corona,” earlier this month for its cutting-edge initiative by joining graduates with companies that pay real salaries.

“Post Corona,” hosted by Dan Senor, released an episode on March 19 titled “Zoom University...

COVID-19 Has Widened the Skills Gap. But It Also Presents...

America’s skills gap has been widely discussed. The friction between postsecondary institutions failing to properly prepare job seekers and unrealistic employer expectations has led to seven million unfilled openings. Not surprisingly, the challenge worsened with...

University of Colorado Denver Partners with Optimum...

The University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver) and Optimum Healthcare IT today announced a new partnership that provides a pathway for recent college graduates to high-paying healthcare IT jobs through a novel apprenticeship program.

What a Day in the Life actually looks like

Achieve Partners was one of the most formative experiential learning experiences I’ve had during my MBA. Not only did it give me a no-frills and honest perspective on how top socially focused funds are achieving...

The Rise of Jobtech

One of the challenges of working in education is that because everyone’s gone to school, everyone’s an expert. I don’t get it. I get my hair cut, but I’m definitely not an expert on cutting hair. Just ask my locked-down kids with the sad bowl cuts. But that doesn’t stop millions...

Earn as you learn a sought after health care IT skill

With unemployment at levels not seen in decades due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and underemployment affecting younger workers, it is easy to forget that there are still industries where qualified employees are in short supply. The health care industry is one of them...

University of North Florida launches EHR apprenticeship...

Jacksonville-based University of North Florida has partnered with Optimum Healthcare IT to establish an EHR apprenticeship program offering training to give hospital and health systems EHR support, according to a June 23 news release.

Students’ Internships Are Disappearing. Can Virtual Models Replace Them?

I’m Goldie Blumenstyk, a senior writer at The Chronicle of Higher Education, covering innovation in and around academe. As the Covid-19 crisis continues, here’s what I’m thinking about this week.

As Cities Axe Summer Youth Work Programs, Here Are Alternatives to Consider

In today’s lexicon, “dog days” conjure dreamy images of lazy canines and humans alike, basking under the summer sun. But it turns out that the phrase originated in ancient Greece, where it referred not to actual Mediterranean dogs but to the particular moment...

Reimagining Internships for Adult Learners and a New Era...

By one estimate, more than 23,000 students graduated from coding bootcamps in 2019—up nearly 50 percent from the previous year. But how quickly they will land a job is unclear. Concerns over lack of experience is the top reason deterring employers from hiring...

RBC and Riipen launch national experiential learning partnership for Canadian youth

Thirteen post-secondary institutions from across Canada will connect students with practical work experience

Achieve Partners raises $180 million to boost apprenticeships and job placements

The fund will acquire businesses that provide apprenticeships in health care, information technology and other industries facing skills shortages, and move newly trained workers into high-quality jobs.

The Rise Of Skills-Based Hiring And What It Means For Education

The pandemic broke some old conventions and accelerated other trends. One convention that, for many tech employers, fell by the wayside was requiring degrees for every position.

The future of work-integrated learning

Katelyn Chan wondered what it was like to be an entrepreneur and grow her own brand. So when the Western University Ivey Business School student got the chance to intern at a startup through an innovative...

Rise of health care cyberattacks spells need for preventive measures, experts say

Midtown investment firm launches $180M fund for health care IT acquisitions. Ho fertility-tech platform closes $105M Series C round...

Achieve Partners acquires Optimum Healthcare IT to fill healthcare labor gaps

Florida-based Optimum Healthcare IT provides staffing and consulting services to 150 hospital systems in the U.S. Achieve Partners acquired the company to build a job training and apprenticeship program to provide talent for healthcare’s accelerating digital shift.

Jax-based Optimum Healthcare IT acquired by Achieve Partners

Jacksonville Beach-based health care staffing firm Optimum Healthcare IT has been acquired by a New York-based private equity group, a deal that the company said will allow it to expand its local apprenticeship program.

Anthology to acquire Blackboard, creating large private equity-owned company spanning ed tech markets

Anthology, a relatively new higher education software and services company, is acquiring Blackboard, long one of the most prominent companies in the educational technology space...

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