Newsletter #186: Provider of AI-taught courses granted degree-awarding powers; How humanities degrees should position employability; Why the Russell Group wins in AI search and what to do about it

📝 From the Education Marketer desk

How humanities degrees should position employability. Read

What if your work community wasn’t about work? Read

Why the Russell Group wins in AI search and what to do about it. Look

📰 HE news

A new provider of AI-taught courses has been given degree-awarding powers. Read that again. While most institutions are only just rolling out AI “professional development programmes” or providing “essential AI training for all students”, The London School of Innovation is trading lecture theatres for “AI private tutors.” Not only that, the School’s on a mission to forge AI-native leaders. Listen to the words: AI native. AI is not a bolt-on, something that is squeezed into a professional development module. It is the degree experience itself. A student’s AI private tutor is trained on their course content, and that content can be delivered in whatever way is best for the student. With AI, you have that choice. At the end of a module, students engage in “Socratic dialogue” with their AI tutor to build critical thinking, with access to human faculty at any point. And that’s the key. With zero responsibility to prepare mass-broadcast teaching materials, academic staff have more time to engage in personalised learning with students. This will be typical within the next 5 years. Read

📊 Marketing and media news

Historically, universities have performed well during economic downturns - between 2007 and 2010 there was a 30% increase in UCAS applications. However, that isn’t how young people are responding to economic uncertainty today. Apprenticeship starts are up almost 12% year over year, and the hiring rate of entry-level workers (with apprenticeships) has risen rapidly, up 6% compared with last year. Meanwhile, the graduate premium continues to fall. So here’s a question: If universities can no longer differentiate on career outcomes, what business is higher education in? Peter Wood, founder of the Graduate Guide, believes it’s helping students take “side quests” to explore their interests, with universities supporting young talent to enter the job market without a career path in mind. That is to encourage the “pursuit of projects,” creating outcomes that students can a) use to evidence skills or b) go it alone and design their own career. Sounds better than forcing a comparison between your £10K course and a (money-making) apprenticeship. Read

When I consult with social media teams, LinkedIn is often regarded as the darling of the social suite. Engagement is higher than in other channels, younger demographics are using it more, and it’s one of the few networks where you can still go relatively viral with a text-based post. However, things are changing. According to new data published by Just Connecting, the number of engagements your content receives from non-followers significantly impacts its growth. That means there’s less time for context-setting. Your existing audience is willing to wait for your content’s payoff. The audience driving the most growth isn’t. Solution: Lead with your most unobvious or counterintuitive insight first, then back it up. If you’re taking a paragraph to build to that reveal, then you’re harming reach, engagement and growth. Also, pace your publishing. Another study by Metricool revealed a 13% decline in post frequency for your typical university-sized accounts. Account managers are being more deliberate with their content. So ask yourself, are you preaching to the converted and filling the content calendar, or taking a POV and rallying new people to your cause? Read

🏫 What unis are doing

NTU had its social media lead deliver a session for BA Content Creation students on “how to prepare for a career in social media.” This kind of teaching is becoming way more common. I even worked with a school recently where its marketing team shared in module delivery for a similar programme. Read

This one flew under my radar at the time, but King's College London has launched an AI literacy programme for its law students. For incumbents, this is the approach to take. At the subject level, you can ensure AI solves the right, specific problems for students. Additionally, the AI tools King’s teaches are the same ones used by the legal industry. Specificity wins. Read

Baldwin Wallace University clipped its President reading Gen Z slang. It doesn’t convey any particular message about the university, but at the very least you’re left with an impression that its leader engages with students. However, I do wonder how much longer Gen Z content like this will hold up. The generation turns 30 next year. Read

🧑‍🎓 What students are saying

"I was always sending out different applications, sending my CV to as many places as I can. You only get some come back to you. You don't really hear much back. I've been enrolled onto a sales and leadership course for the next six weeks". The UK's unemployment rate has fallen unexpectedly, partly due to fewer students looking for work. However, this trend could reverse if energy prices continue to rise into the Winter months. Read

👾 Culture shock

A Polymarket trader made $21,000 by tampering with weather equipment at Charles de Gaulle Airport. Read

Three-quarters of Google's code is now written by AI. Read

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