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Students First: Equity, Access, and Opportunity in Higher Education
2022 Phillip E. Frandson Award for Literature, University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA)
Paul LeBlanc has reimagined higher education, with a focus on the most fundamental of student learning. In Students First , he advocates for an entire higher education ecosystem in which students have the flexibility to gain, assess, and certify their knowledge on their own terms and timelines.
In a perceptive analysis, LeBlanc provides a clear-eyed view of how and why higher education is failing to reach and serve a great many potential students. He then deftly explores how reform can address systemic inequities, improve college affordability, and broaden accessibility. Through case studies, he highlights alternative delivery models such as online, distance, and just-in-time learning, and he envisions a learning environment that values competencies rather than credit hours. LeBlanc describes how these innovations and others will allow colleges and universities to help close the skills gap and respond to a rapidly evolving, technology-driven job market.
Although a college education remains one of the great drivers of socioeconomic mobility, today's higher education industry has built financial, logistical, and practical barriers that keep out the very students who are most in need of opportunity. Students First makes a persuasive case that realigning US educational priorities will enable larger populations of graduates to enjoy a return on investment in the form of good pay, meaningful work, and a stable future. As the book emphasizes, such change is imperative, for in better serving its students, higher education will better serve society.
Paul LeBlanc has reimagined higher education, with a focus on the most fundamental of student learning. In Students First , he advocates for an entire higher education ecosystem in which students have the flexibility to gain, assess, and certify their knowledge on their own terms and timelines.
In a perceptive analysis, LeBlanc provides a clear-eyed view of how and why higher education is failing to reach and serve a great many potential students. He then deftly explores how reform can address systemic inequities, improve college affordability, and broaden accessibility. Through case studies, he highlights alternative delivery models such as online, distance, and just-in-time learning, and he envisions a learning environment that values competencies rather than credit hours. LeBlanc describes how these innovations and others will allow colleges and universities to help close the skills gap and respond to a rapidly evolving, technology-driven job market.
Although a college education remains one of the great drivers of socioeconomic mobility, today's higher education industry has built financial, logistical, and practical barriers that keep out the very students who are most in need of opportunity. Students First makes a persuasive case that realigning US educational priorities will enable larger populations of graduates to enjoy a return on investment in the form of good pay, meaningful work, and a stable future. As the book emphasizes, such change is imperative, for in better serving its students, higher education will better serve society.
- GenresProfessional Development
224 pages, Paperback
Published October 19, 2021
19 people are currently reading
92 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 14, 2022
LeBlanc presents changing higher education to a competency-based model rather than the credit hour-based model. It's a great and necessary change. He does a really good job of explaining why the change is needed and sharing student testimonials about why they liked it better; however, he didn't do as good of a job explaining how to make the change. He explained some of the changes made at SNHU, but more explanation is needed for other schools to implement the idea.
December 25, 2021
I found this book hard to read partly because it is so sad to face how far the real higher ed is from my old idealized dream, and partly because it was just a bit dry for me. I almost put the book down and gave up, but I’m glad I didn’t because there are some great ideas in this book. In the end I was inspired and invigorated by it, and most definitely grateful for it. Competency based education. Let’s do it!
December 28, 2022
Paul LeBlanc makes the best case for fundamentally redesigning higher education. His proposal is centered on competency based education, which measures what students actually learn, not how much time it takes to get through the syllabus. Unlike the deluge of books about the future of higher ed published these last 5 years, LeBlanc focuses his critique and solutions on what higher ed must do for the most disadvantaged and marginalized students.
October 25, 2021
Paul LeBlanc has written a critically important book about the way forward for HIREed - move to competency based learning where learning is built on outcomes not inputs and TIME is no longer the tyranny.
November 8, 2021
Outstanding. A must read for policymakers, higher ed professionals, and even employers contemplating why higher ed currently does not meet their organizational needs.
This is a book about innovation, equity, and the opportunity to lift people out of poverty. Read it. You won't be disappointed.
This is a book about innovation, equity, and the opportunity to lift people out of poverty. Read it. You won't be disappointed.
June 14, 2022
Recommended by a colleague who visited SNHU and was blown away.
A refreshing new approach to higher education. Exciting yet so hard to do!
A refreshing new approach to higher education. Exciting yet so hard to do!
November 11, 2022
Contains some great ideas on how to improve the education system in America.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews