Post-Secondary Education
Empowering all learners to unlock their potential
The Challenge
For decades, policies have promoted college over alternative pathways and created artificial demand for degrees and kept too many people from accessing the type of individualized education they deserve. Most policy efforts have focused on marginal improvements to the current system, but these efforts have simply reinforced the status quo.
We need a society where people are valued based on their dignity and ability to contribute, not by the credential they hold. Policy reforms must move away from a one-size-fits-all higher education model and empower students to pursue education designed for their unique lifelong learning trajectory.
Stand Together Trust partners with policymakers, education reformers, business and community leaders, and social entrepreneurs to create a postsecondary education environment where every person can develop and apply their unique abilities to create value for others and society.
Research Areas
Focus on Skills, Not Degrees
Remove barriers to new education models and shift the overemphasis on degrees by changing the demand signals about the types of credentials society values.Innovative Finance to Improve Cost and Value
Change the paradigm on how people finance their education and move away from subsidies that double down on the status quo higher education model.Administrative Restraint and Fair Accountability
Elevate reforms that mitigate administrative overreach and restore fairness and trust by addressing the misaligned incentives of existing accountability and finance policies.We Support Social Entrepreneurs
A Policy Toolkit to Transform Postsecondary Education
Stand Together Trust Postsecondary Education (PSE) Toolkit provides research and suggestions for policymakers at the federal and state level to find common ground for a postsecondary education transformation that would empower students to follow their interests, achieve their potential, and contribute meaningfully in community.
