Thought Leaders in Online Education: Brian Kibby, CEO of Modern Campus (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: Interestingly, we’ve covered Destiny Solutions in 2013. Let me double-click down on a few different pieces of what you’ve told me so far. The one that I find the most interesting is in distributing our technology entrepreneurship courses. Over the last 15 years, we have developed one of the largest collection of early-stage technology entrepreneurship case studies in the world.

On top of that, we’ve built our digital curriculum. We just did a partnership with Udemy where we have put 25 courses based on this material. Today, we distribute our program in two business models. One is the 1M1M Basic, which is our education program only. It’s $99 a month all-you-can-eat curriculum subscription. Then we have a $1,000 a year digital acceleration program subscription that includes online mentoring and introduction to investors.

Those are the two models in which we work. Then we partner with people. The Udemy partnership is very new where we have created micro-courses based on our repository. Since you’re trying to access curriculum from different catalogs, what is the perspective of universities and colleges on acquiring outside digital curriculum.

Brian Kibby: For the degree side of the house, probably not. The platform helps colleges and universities adapt more rapidly to the changes in market demand. That platform helps them to compete more aggressively in the marketplace. We don’t acquire the content or curriculum. On the continuing education (CE) side, you may find colleges and universities that are interested in third-party courses.

Sramana Mitra: How many colleges and universities are working with you in this model? If you could break it down between continuing education and regular degree programs, that would be great.

Brian Kibby: We have 1,200 colleges and universities across United States and Canada. We have 150 on the CE side.

Sramana Mitra: 1,200 are using you one the degree side, and 150 on the continuing education side.

Brian Kibby: Yes. Overall, we have north of 1,200 college and universities as partners. 

Sramana Mitra: What trends are you seeing as you look at the degree and CE side? 

Brian Kibby: Let’s take the area that you’re in. There are over a million options for students to take certifications. That’s going to continue to accelerate. Ten years ago, online certification was a nascent market. Now it’s a $120 billion market. It’s hot. It’s new. As someone who hires people, I care more about what you can do for me. It’s great that you have a degree. But I’m really excited that you did continuing education. That’s the kind of thing that employers get excited about – when we see learners upskill. That’s a trend. 

Sramana Mitra: Along those trends, what is the approach of your continuing education partners? We don’t provide certifications. 

Brian Kibby: Most colleges and universities are creating their own content. You may have some that acquire some content or courses. The second largest post-secondary educator in the world are Associates. Most of the time, they’re developing it themselves. One area that is interesting is how do we add some uniformity and how do we accredit and certify this market. As an employer, I don’t care. Ultimately, there has to be an aggregating body. 

This segment is part 2 in the series : Thought Leaders in Online Education: Brian Kibby, CEO of Modern Campus
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