NewU
This webinar is a part of an Innovative Universities Global Webinar Series.
NewU University, based in the heart of Washington, DC, right next to the White House, is the first 3-year Bachelor’s degree college in the US. NewU accepted its first class of students in 2022, with a mission to revolutionize higher education by providing accessible, high-quality education tailored to modern needs, like those balancing education with work and personal commitments.
What sets NewU apart is its student-centric approach, offering fully personalized learning experiences, competency-based education, and an emphasis on career readiness. The university highlights its innovation in flexible learning models to create a more inclusive and adaptable higher education environment for everyone involved.
- Is this the future of education?
- What is it like to be a university in it’s scale up phase in this decade?
- Can it successfully scale its model while maintaining high standards?
We will hear all about this and more from President Stratsi Kulinski as NewU paves the way for the next evolution in online education.
Stratsi Kulinski, President & CEO of NewU
- Stratsi Kulinski is the founder and President of NewU University, the first 3-year Bachelor’s degree college in the U.S.
- Kulinski has a global career background in media, telecom, and finance before transitioning to higher education.
- A graduate of the American University in Bulgaria with a BA in Business Administration, he also served as its first alumni president.
- He was also on the Board of Trustees and the Fulbright Commission in Sofia during his tenure as alumni president.
- Kulinski earned his MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Dara Melnyk:
- The American regulatory framework is not conducive to new entrants to the higher education market: ITT takes 4–6 years just to clear the initial barriers. Isak Frumin and I, ever supporters of innovative higher education, would love the regulations to be more supportive as well. But how do you accomplish that and still ensure high quality, integrity, and adherence to the idea of the university?
- Incidentally, NewU hits all these marks. For example, it would be so easy to go after hype, pragmatic, simplistic training in the name of employability. But no, the college offers liberal arts education. Why? Because nothing could be more useful than learning how to learn, how to think critically, and how to view the world from different perspectives.
- I asked President Kulinski if he felt that there should be room for slack in university building. Not in our case, he responded. If one's goal is to provide great education for a price that will allow anybody to afford it, then there can be no rest in searching for ways to do it.
- Some key ways NewU saves: lease real estate, hire adjuncts, focus on teaching (yes, that does mean no sports, and, consequently, no pricey climbing walls), minimize overhead, outsource back office to overseas, automate everything that can be automated, be a test bed for EdTech and keep improving.
- Is this ideal? Of course not. Schools (incl. universities) should be palaces, as Sam Seaborn famously told Mallory. When a university can afford world-class sports facilities, it should be celebrated. But does NewU matter? It absolutely does! 68% of its students are first-gen, 59% wouldn't be at college if not for it, and that is a huge win in the world where costs have only been rising.
- Closer to the end, I asked how come NewU is almost invisible in the American higher education landscape: it solves so many people's problems, and yet hardly anyone talks about it. I got a surprising answer: it's just hard to reach to one's audience through the noise. I hope, nay, believe it's simply a matter of time.
