Creating a University From Scratch

This article originally appeared on Stanford Social Innovation Review

Imagine building a university from the ground up, and doing it specifically with 21st-century students in mind. It would mean no baggage, no legacy systems, and no outdated curricula. It would also mean attracting a completely new faculty and student body, and raising the funding needed to operate.

This was our challenge. Born in 2012 to address the problems inherent in the centuries-old system of higher education, Minerva’s ambition is to establish a model for the next generation university: intentionally designed to equip future leaders and innovators to solve complex challenges, to make decisions of consequence, and to work collaboratively to improve the world. We’ll not only outline how we began an innovative university from scratch, but how we are will scale our impact through strategic partnerships across educational levels, sectors, and geographies.

Ashoka insight

Hundreds of years from now, if the Minerva vision takes root, the entire educational system will be reformed. Universities everywhere, even those that are centuries-old today, will have changed their approaches, to incorporate deliberate, outcomes-driven instruction and produce legions of more informed and engaged global citizens, more creative and collaborative problem solvers, and wiser decision makers. Only then would we have accomplished our mission to nurture critical wisdom for the sake of the world.