The Time Has Come For The College Entrepreneur

America’s youth unemployment is at an all-time high these days. Studies and reports are showing numbers that are scary, depressing, and downright desperate. A Huffington Post article last summer pegged the number of 16–24 year olds who are unemployed at 51.1%. Things have improved a bit since, but the scale of the problem is still staggering.

We need the high schools and colleges in particular to step up and teach practical aspects of an entrepreneurial way of life to their students, and set expectations that kids and young adults will need to take destiny in their own hands. >>>

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Havoc In The For-Profit University Sector

For-profit educational institutions are under tighter scrutiny with Senate and House committees examining their admission process, which seems to mislead applicants, targets veterans and registers student default rates at least double those of traditional universities. According to a Congressional report released earlier this month, for-profit colleges have high dropout rates, poor results, and high loan default rates. At four of the five for-profit colleges studied by the report, 24% of students defaulted on their loans, compared with the national rate of 7% of students defaulting on government loans in 2008. Another equally disturbing report was released by the Education Trust, which cites statistics detailing poor education scores of for-profit institutions. According to the report, a mere 22% of students earn their degrees in six years in a for-profit college compared with 55% of students in public and 65% in private nonprofit colleges and universities. Apollo Group’s University of Phoenix fared the worst with a mere 9% six-year graduation rate. >>>

Thought Leaders In Cloud Computing: Dr. Reed Sheard, CIO Of Westmont College (Part 1)

By Sramana Mitra and guest author Shaloo Shalini

In the multibillion-dollar market of higher education in the United States, we see an interesting trend whereby a combination of IT people and college communities are playing the role of an active “lead user” and using the cloud computing paradigm to make campus life simpler and information accessible for students through handheld devices. In this interview, we have some insights for you on evolutionary application integrations happening at Westmont and in higher education, from dispensing efficient IT infrastructure for effective collaboration to simplifying campus processes and other real-world tasks. During the interview, Sramana and Dr. Reed Sheard, VP and CIO of Westmont University College, discuss how Sheard has deployed cloud computing technologies and solutions to help the Westmont IT user community move to a higher level of service and helped the college IT team evolve to the next level in terms of business alignment. It is interesting to note that there has been explosive growth in the number of Apple devices in the higher education world, with applications taking a lead in terms of the user base compared to pure browser-based or Internet applications and the absence of Amazon’s Kindle, which is positioned as the textbook of the future in higher education but still needs a volume of textbooks to be made available on it and still lacks the ease with which iPad users can make notes and collaborate. >>>

Women And Entrepreneurship: My Statement

The topic of women and entrepreneurship has been getting a lot of attention of late. Vivek Wadhwa has been leading the charge from TechCrunch. Yesterday, I read an article by Penelope Trunk on TechCrunch that argues that you cannot be an entrepreneur and bear and raise children, have a successful relationship, and have a balanced life.

I generally avoid commenting on this issue, but Vivek has often egged me on to say things, at least in private discussions. Vivek is a good friend, and I believe that he is trying to do something meaningful to help move this debate forward.

So, today, I am going to say a few things on the topic. >>>

Online University Sector Booming

A recent study by the Lumina Foundation projects that the United States needs to add a million graduate students a year for the next 16 years if it wishes to remain a competitive nation. And the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that in the coming 10 years, jobs requiring higher education will be among the fastest growing jobs in the country. The need for higher education is also being supported by the Obama administration, which talks about three important education goals: first, to have every American receive at least one full year of a college education; second, to have the highest graduation rate among developed countries by 2020; and third, to encourage lifelong learning. Many Americans are in fact going back to school. Further, as 73% of the present student population is now “non-traditional,” according to the Department of Education, these students are juggling other responsibilities, suggesting that the demand for online education will continue to grow. >>>

LeapFrog’s Turnaround Moving Along Nicely

A recent report by the NPD Group said that U.S. toy sales were retlatively flat over the year at $21.47 billion in 2009 compared to $21.65 billion in 2008, with overall unit sales falling 0.5% over the year. Toy makers launched promotional events during the holiday season, which helped keep the revenues flat despite a 4% fall in volumes sold. The educational toy maker, Leapfrog (NYSE:LF), also had latest quarter results that were better than the market’s expectations. >>>

Online Education Catering To Demand In Critical Areas

A Reuters report released in October of last year indicates that online education grew 13% over the year, compared with growth of over 20% in earlier years. But while growth may have slowed, it hasn’t stopped. Nearly 25% students take at least some college courses online, compared with 10% in 2002. A significant two million students take all their courses online, and another two million take one or more online courses. >>>

Entrepreneurship Education: Incubator Business Models

You have read my last Forbes Column, An Underused Tool For Job Recovery. With unemployment soaring, I discussed how incubators can help people move into self-employment–and create jobs.

We’ve also discussed the topic of why incubators fail at length here. One of the issues that came up in the incubator discussion as a cause for failure is: What is the right business model for an incubator?

This is what I invite you to discuss in this thread.

[Please note that since this discussion took place here on the blog, we have launched the One Million by One Million global initiative, and for incubators looking for a viable business model, you are very welcome to reach out to me to become a reseller of our premium program priced at $1000 annual membership fee.]

Entrepreneurship Education: Why Do Business Incubators Fail?

While my previous post on entrepreneurship education, Bootstrapping at B-Schools is still generating hot discussion, I would like to pose another important discussion topic: Why do business incubators fail?

Those among my readers who have perspective and analysis to offer on the subject, please feel free to jump right in.

[Please note that since this discussion started here on the blog in 2010, we have launched the One Million by One Million global initiative, and for incubators looking for a viable business model, you are very welcome to reach out to us to become a partner of our program.]

LeapFrog Positions For The Future

The global toy market was around $78.09 billion in 2008. Sixty-five percent of the toy business comes from ten countries, with North America contributing 30% and Europe 29% of global sales. Asia’s contribution was 27% in 2008. The United States is the largest market for toys with sales of $21.7 billion. The toy market is expected to continue to grow as a result of strong demand in the emerging markets like Brazil, China, Russia, and India. Market research firm NPD expects the worldwide toy sales to be approximately $80.3 billion in 2012. The major players in the industry are Mattel, JAKKS Pacific, LeapFrog and Hasbro. >>>