\n<\/p>\n
Khan Academy founder and CEO Sal Khan is teaming up with Google, Microsoft and McKinsey to offer students a new option for higher education.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Khan announced<\/a> this week that he is launching the Khan TED Institute, a new joint venture with TED and testing giant ETS. The idea is to offer an affordable, AI-focused degree that can compete with elite schools like Harvard and Stanford.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe think there are many good reasons to go to a traditional university, but not everyone has access to those opportunities,\u201d Khan said in a video<\/a> announcing the program. \u201cOn top of that, the world is changing very, very, very fast. We want to make sure that there are ways even for people with traditional degrees to continue to reskill.\u201d<\/p>\n Khan expects to launch the Khan TED Institute within the next one to two years and plans to seek accreditation as a full degree program. He aims to have a degree cost less than $10,000 total \u2014\u00a0just a sliver of what students pay at top-tier universities, where tuition alone is headed toward over $68,000 per year<\/a> at Stanford and nearly $65,000 per year<\/a> at Harvard.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Khan TED Institute\u2019s first degree offering will be a Bachelor\u2019s in Applied AI, with the offerings set to expand over time, per Fortune<\/a>. The coursework will be online and asynchronous, so students can set their own schedules. The program targets students from all backgrounds, whether they are recent high school graduates or mid-career professionals.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe think there are a lot of folks with existing degrees who want to reskill, who want to make sure their skills are relevant in an AI age,\u201d Khan said in the video. \u201cSo there might be something like a second Bachelor\u2019s program, with opportunity for transferring a significant number of credits if you already have a Bachelor\u2019s.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n He said the program could also appeal to those already in college who want to pursue a second degree relevant to their careers. According to Khan, the \u201ccompetency-based\u201d program bases the degree on the skills students can prove they\u2019ve mastered, not on how many hours they spend in class.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know there are many folks in the world who don\u2019t either have access to quality higher education or the traditional pathway might not make sense for them,\u201d Khan said. \u201cSo a competency-based pathway like what we\u2019re offering could be very interesting.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n For many young people, college is starting to feel like a shaky investment. Today, more than 42 million<\/a> Americans carry federal student loans, and the average borrower owes nearly $40,000.<\/p>\n At the same time, new grads are finding it harder to land solid roles. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York<\/a>, the unemployment rate of recent college graduates is 5.6%. Meanwhile, 42.5% of recent college graduates are working in jobs that don\u2019t require college degrees.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s no surprise, then, that in one recent survey by Indeed, just over half<\/a> of Gen Z graduates said they regret going to college in the first place.<\/p>\n Khan says the new institute will close the gap between higher education and the skills needed to succeed in the workforce by building its courses in partnership with major employers like Google, Microsoft, Accenture, Bain and McKinsey. The goal is to make sure students learn the AI and technical skills companies want, alongside softer skills like collaborating with others.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis really could make a positive dent in what the world needs,\u201d Khan said in the video. \u201cWe can create a world where more people really do have access to their potential and access to opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Khan Academy founder and CEO Sal Khan is teaming up with Google, Microsoft and McKinsey to offer students a new option for higher education.\u00a0<\/p>\n Khan announced<\/a> this week that he is launching the Khan TED Institute, a new joint venture with TED and testing giant ETS. The idea is to offer an affordable, AI-focused degree that can compete with elite schools like Harvard and Stanford.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe think there are many good reasons to go to a traditional university, but not everyone has access to those opportunities,\u201d Khan said in a video<\/a> announcing the program. \u201cOn top of that, the world is changing very, very, very fast. We want to make sure that there are ways even for people with traditional degrees to continue to reskill.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nWho the program targets<\/h2>\n
Gen Z has a strained relationship with higher education<\/h2>\n
Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n
\n