The future of revenue diversification in higher education

Jisc and Emerge Education believe that edtech has the potential to help UK universities solve their biggest challenges. They view edtech startups as key to the innovation and agility that higher education needs to navigate the rapidly changing present, and future.

Jisc and Emerge have worked as close partners for several years, bringing together 30+ years of experience in providing digital solutions for UK education and research, and Emerge’s in-depth knowledge of the edtech ecosystem based on investments in 55 startups in five years. Collectively, they have developed unique insights into the potential of edtech in higher education.

To unlock that potential, they’re undertaking a programme of research. It’s focused on exploring the most urgent priorities that university senior leaders will face over the next three years. They’ve investigated and set out in an initial joint report, The start of something big? Can edtech startups solve the biggest challenges faced by UK universities? Their report was developed through conversations with 30+ university senior leaders, edtech startup founders, and sector experts, making for a powerful case for the need to change.

Keith Zimmerman Chief operating officer at the University of Bath and chair of the Emerge Education action group on revenue diversification wrote: “In partnership with Jisc, Emerge Education and HackerU, we have developed this green paper to provide a long-term vision for a financially thriving, vibrant and diverse higher education sector, and to set out the short-term steps and practical guidance that must be laid as a foundation to enable this vision. We’ve highlighted some leading examples of innovators from the UK and around the world, from the Open University to the University of Michigan, Guild Education to FutureLearn, which offer key lessons.

We hope that this report will stimulate thought and debate, and prepare universities, edtech startups, and policymakers alike as we move into the post-pandemic world. Revenue diversification is not an end in itself. It is a way to better serve our existing students, and the students to come.”