DreamDegree Offers Mobile HigherEd Platform, Affordable GenEd

The founder who helped take Grand Canyon University and Bridgepoint Education public–less than a year apart–is back with one of the most interesting HigherEd innovations since the MOOC. It’s an adaptive mobile learning platform. Universities can load their own curriculum and consumers can purchase inexpensive general education courses.

Michael Clifford thinks there’s lots of room to innovate in higher education. His mission-focused approach is guided by a commitment to broad access to education with a purpose and less debt as a result of lower tuition and faster completion.

The cloud-based mobile platform assesses student learning, and serves up only what the student doesn’t know. The platform prompts learners each step of the way with notifications (e.g., “are you ready for a 27 minute unit?”). It get’s to know the learner and their preferred communication style.

Colleges can load their curriculum into the DreamDegree platform and use it for $49 per student per course. Some colleges will upload content, others will license content.

There are six ACE approved general education courses on the platform (12 by January) available to students for $75. The ACE CREDIT College and University Network is a group of more than 2,000 higher education institutions that consider ACE credit recommendations.

Two dozen students are enrolled in the First Year Free program that DreamDegree is featuring.

The platform could save more than 25% of the cost of college by helping students complete general education faster and far cheaper.

Clifford says there is high university interest in the platform. He’s raising money to expand course offerings and platform capabilities. DreamDegree is off to a very interesting start and, given Clifford’s track record, is an HigherEd development to watch.