The cost of pursuing a degree has skyrocketed over recent decades, as has student debt - which now averages around $40K.  And the long-term financial benefit of choosing to attend college has gone from a sure thing to an even-odds gamble. 

Engineering schools are still teaching a 1960s curriculum: two years of math-science death march, a long list of technical classes. Professional and entrepreneurial skills? An afterthought. Preparation for a world in which AI will be ubiquitous? Let’s practice some calculus instead.

The teaching methods in engineering are outdated too: lecture-heavy, exam-based, and disconnected from real practice. Combined with a pervasive weed-out culture, it's no wonder 30% of students leave in the first year, only one-third graduate in four years, and many never choose engineering to begin with.

The disconnect between the academy and industry continues to grow. Employers are dissatisfied with what graduates can do; many tell us “well, we just tell them to forget what they learned in school.”