With a majority of schools and institutions of higher learning around the world currently operating in virtual space, there may be no better opportunity for programs geared from the start for online education. And one of those programs is the Minerva Project.

Started in 2012, Minerva was created with the goal of reinventing higher education in the U.S. It sells its online curriculum and technology platform to other schools and offers accredited undergraduate and masters programs through Minerva Schools at KGI.

Minerva is seeking to deliver learning programs while promoting a comprehensive reform of educational systems.

“We nurture critical wisdom for the sake of the world,” said Ben Nelson (pictured), chairman and chief executive officer of Minerva Project Inc. “We think a wiser world is a better world; wisdom is the core goal of education. Higher education is the area that is both most in need of transformation and also one that we’re most capable of influencing.”

Nelson spoke with Jeff Frick, host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed how Minerva is addressing perceived flaws in the current system of higher education, the benefits of data generated through online instruction, and job placement for its first graduating class.

Challenging core beliefs and breaking down silos

Transforming the current system of higher education involves challenging the core beliefs in a university’s purpose. With the invention of the printing press in the 15th century and more modern systems of online communication today, Minerva is prepared to challenge a model built around the dissemination of knowledge.

“Universities exist to create and disseminate knowledge; that’s why they were founded a thousand years ago and that’s why they exist today,” Nelson said. “After the printing press and after the internet, the concept of a university being needed to disseminate knowledge as its core mission seems kind of crazy. It can’t be that’s what universities are for, but effectively they’re still structured in that way.”

Online learning generates data, specific metrics around previous courses, and what concepts and learning were provided to students. This is one of the gaps that Minerva is seeking to fill in the current system where many courses exist in silos and there is no baseline data for what has been previously taught.

“How many times have we been in the ‘102 class’ where, in the first month, all the professor did was repeat what happened in the ‘101 class’ because they didn’t feel comfortable that you actually learned it?” Nelson asked. “That’s because education is done offline with no data. If you have education in a data-rich environment, you can actually design a cross-cutting curriculum. And once you have institutional knowledge, you can use technology to deliver a solution wide education.”

There were signs, even before the coronavirus pandemic gripped the world and disrupted traditional education, that Minerva’s approach was beginning to gain traction. The project successfully raised $57 million in a series C round last year, led by Bytedance, known for its popular TikTok video sharing app.

Minerva also recently announced a partnership with a fully accredited private online school and graduated its first class.

“We had a 94% placement rate in jobs,” Nelson said. “These are often the types of jobs that are unavailable to recent undergraduates. It’s not because they were born with it. They actually had a wise education.”

Here’s the complete video interview, one of many CUBE Conversations from SiliconANGLE and theCUBE:

Photo: SiliconANGLE