[gojomo]

I believe most of the new-model online/for-profit universities actually had to buy older universities to get their accreditation.

So I doubt that "play[ing] their game better than they do" by pursuing traditional accreditation is really the disruptive strategy here. Blow up the whole rotten credentialist system and replace it with something very different.

(A meta-credentialing service might be a neat startup. With an explosion of non-traditional courses, certifications, and credentials, which actually hold up as meaning something? Communicating something here is a process, trust, and even data/statistics challenge – a nice community/tech opportunity.)

[twelvechairs]

I agree - very hard to start a (long-course) educational institution without first establishing the credibility (in the actual industry, not to the govt.) of the certificate you get at the end of it.

What a system like this really needs is a strong way for future employers of graduates to rate their relative ability (eg. 'according to our benchmarks this person's ability in python lies _x_ far between the average coder on github and [insert famous python user here]').

Perhaps establishing 'credentialing' should come before establishing a school?

[padwiki]

You would think so, but we actually can't even apply for regional accreditation until the first student graduates from a full degree program.

Yes, the system is rigged against new entrants.

[padwiki]

Shoot, you've gone ahead and skipped ahead to phase two of our master plan. Try not to tell our competitors...