NewU Develops a Solution to Student Debt Crisis
NewU Inc., a nonprofit in the District of Columbia, announced today it plans to provide higher education for the future at a fraction of the cost of incumbent colleges and universities.
NewU intends to serve as a model for higher education reform by leveraging operations and academic innovations to solve the most pressing problems with student debt, tuition, academic programs, and graduation and job placement rates.
Stratsi Kulinski, Founder and President of NewU and a professional whose career spans almost 30 years in diverse industries worldwide, and includes service as a trustee, member of the board, and president of a US regionally accredited university, said: "Higher Education faces a multitude of severe challenges to its business model and to academic quality and student outcomes, yet for all the media and political attention, meaningful reform appears absent. Skyrocketing costs, tuition, and student debt seem even more egregious in the context of a persistent skills gap with employer expectations, minimal academic innovation, and suboptimal student outcomes. The cost to educate a student at our nation's four-year private nonprofit undergraduate schools is now almost $60,000 per student per year, the average graduation rate across all types of undergraduate institutions is a meager 57%, while there is more than $1.5 trillion in student debt outstanding with 19-to-29 year olds carrying about $1 trillion of that mountain. The burdens to our society are material and urgent, and must be addressed with a bold and innovative approach."
NewU is building upon a novel financially self-sustainable model where the total cost of education to students and their families is projected to be 70% cheaper compared to incumbents, with academic quality and student outcomes targeted to meet and exceed those of the status quo.
"We call upon all individuals and organizations who believe it is time for meaningful reform in higher education to support us in the pursuit of our mission and vision", Kulinski continued. "As a nonprofit, we rely on charitable contributions to enable us to welcome our first class of students next year. We forecast an operating surplus in just two years, at which point we expect to be largely tuition-dependent and self-sufficient thanks to our operations model innovations. The amount of funding needed is only $1.5 million in the next year, and only $2.5 million the year after that, but the societal impact and the insights into successful higher education reform will be immeasurably more valuable. This is a rare opportunity for those who wish to join us as founding partners to make a very small yet hugely meaningful impact investment in the future of higher education, and we are now ready for and welcome discussions with donors and partners to bring NewU to market."
NewU Inc. has a 501(c)(3) application on file with the IRS, and is incorporated as a nonprofit in Washington DC.
About NewU
At NewU we set out to evolve the traditional university model to the next generation of higher education. Our goal is to deliver this improved new breed of offline, high-quality yet affordable undergraduate program often debt-free to students, and equip them with future-proof skills. The Mission of NewU is to empower students to become successful, self-aware, socially responsible, democratic, and ethical citizens of the world for life. Our Vision is that by the year 2030 leading universities around the world will adopt our operating and learning model to transform the Higher Education sector for the benefit of society. Explore NewU at newu.university and follow our progress at facebook.com/newuworld, instagram.com/newuworld and twitter.com/newuworld.
News published on and distributed by:
