Everyone Benefits - Grow Your ROI with Private Partners

“Between 2015 and 2019, Americans’ faith in higher education dropped more than their confidence in any other institution … an extraordinary erosion of trust, considering that list includes the presidency, Congress, big business and the criminal justice system.” – The Hechinger Report.

No matter the country in which they live, every day parents are asking higher education administrators what their child will get in return for the investment (ROI) of multiple thousands of dollars of hard-earned income. It has become a major factor when selecting a college or university. Parents want schools to demonstrate employability of their graduates. Will their child be prepared to get a good paying job?

A primary solution is to provide multiple high-impact practices which link the skills learned in the classroom to real-world experiences for every student, not just a select few. “Connections between education and career — supports that help students bridge the two as well as direct work-based learning experiences — are significantly linked to student and alumni confidence in the value of their education and their post-graduation outcomes.” – Strada Education Network But “fresh data from the Inside Higher Ed/College Pulse Student Voice survey (conducted with support from Kaplan) suggests little progress is being made to ensure graduates are well prepared for work. Nearly four in 10 (39 percent) college students and recent graduates surveyed have had neither an internship nor an experiential learning opportunity this past year.” – Brandon Busteed, What Ails Our Labor Market Is Evident in College, Inside HigherEd

Developing connections between education and the workplace raises a variety of questions. How can institutions provide work experiences and the oversight students need for skill development in the workforce?  How can they level the playing field with regard to global skills development for every student, no matter their socio-economic status? How can institutions validate their commitment to workforce development in a very practical way? To what will institutions point parents to illustrate how they cultivate student employability?

The integration of internships, especially virtual internships, into an institution’s curriculum ensures access across the student body. Well-structured virtual internships are flexible by nature as they do not require a traditional 9-to-5 time commitment that competes with other student responsibilities. When internships are kept on the periphery, it increases costs to students. Access is limited to the privileged few who do not have barriers such as transportation and personal commitments. However, if there is curricular integration, the educational value of practical experience is acknowledged as a key component contributing to a successful student outcome.

If schools pursue a strategy of executing institution-wide, virtual internships on their own, they face a host of obstacles, not the least of which involve budgetary expenses including appropriate staffing levels of advisors, instructional designers, and educational technologists. A resource to utilize, if this path is chosen, is this comprehensive guide and checklist from Jisc in the UK.  For a full-orbed consideration of what is needed and the changing landscape of online learning, check out the excellent 2022 CHLOE7 Report and this article by McKinsey & Company on scaling online learning. Ensuring quality in online education is difficult and time-consuming, as noted by The Chronicle of Higher Education.

An alternate path is to partner with companies who have demonstrated quality and expertise to provide a turnkey solution for higher education institutions of any size. These organizations offer orientation, training, placement, oversight, and evaluation of student work, have a deep pool of businesses from which to draw, and are on a solid footing financially. One such company is Virtual Internships, which works with over 12,000 companies in 110+ countries. They guarantee project-based internship placements, offer flexible dates and durations, employability skill-training modules, and wrap around support for students, universities, and businesses. These ensure a seamless turnkey solution for institutions who want to quickly build work experience and industry connections into the career experience of every student on their campus.

One student, among many, testifies to the value received as a result of his Virtual Internship experience. Jin Ma, who attends a university in southern California, writes of what he discovered through his participation - "I learned patience, commitment, and overcoming mistakes. Be patient, flexible, understand different cultures, and reach a solution to the problem by research and investigation". This partnership benefitted not only Jin, but his institution as well by off-loading his placement, supervision, and evaluation.

Jeff Selingo noted regarding the last two academic years, “Without the talent or financial capital—or frankly the risk tolerance—to build the infrastructure themselves, colleges and universities turned to these private partners who agreed to put up money and bring the expertise in exchange for sharing tuition revenue... One thing is for certain, however: such public-private partnerships aren’t going away. Indeed, they are likely only to increase in the wake of the pandemic.” – Future Ed – Sound and Fury.

A path of learning has been created that didn’t exist very many years ago. It is a path toward the quickly materializing future of work. Using human connection and guidance, as well as advances in technology, virtual internships are empowering global career success for thousands of students. That is exactly what parents are looking for as they consider colleges and universities for their children. Are virtual internships part of your institution’s ROI strategy? If not, why not?

Brandon Busteed Jeff Selingo Kaitlin Dumont Taylor Swaak Matt Byrnes Ed Holroyd Pearce Daniel Nivern Jillian Low Deborah Morrison Edwin Blanton, Ph.D. Daniel Kjellsson Joe Testani Stephen Moret

#highereducation #careerdevelopment #virtualinternships #equalityanddiversity #futureofeducation #valueproposition

Michael True is President of INTRUEITION, the parent company of InternQube.com. He has been working in the field of internships for over 30 years and is the author of resources for students, higher education professionals, and business. Leading newspapers and magazines, such as the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, and Chronicle of Higher Education, have interviewed him regarding internships.