For US higher education to survive as a system, there needs to be balance between older universities and colleges, and new “startup” institutions. More of these “green shoots” are needed within the higher education ecosystem. Only handfuls of new 4-year institutions are being founded as a multitude of older institutions compete for dwindling numbers of students. A recent report by the Postsecondary Commission (PSC), an organization founded by Harvard professor Stig Leschly in 2020, provides a detailed portrait of new colleges in the US. The report identified 1,039 new colleges founded since 2000, with a wide range of institutional missions and degree offerings. Most of these new colleges are specialized, with 78% offering 1-year specialized vocational certificates instead of bachelor’s degrees. Overall, 74% of new colleges are for-profit institutions, and only 14% offer 4-year degree programs.
Small but Innovative “Startup” Universities
The PSC report notes that 98% of college students attend a college that is more than 20 years old. Within the sample are 153 new 4-year accredited bachelor’s degree institutions, 112 private non-profit institutions, 30 private for-profit institutions and only 11 public institutions. Some of the innovative non-profit private 4-year “startup” institutions, include the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, which has reimagined engineering education through emphasis on interdisciplinary design studies, and also has eliminated departments, Soka University of America, which offers a distinctive liberal arts education based on Buddhist principles of peace and human rights, College Unbound, which is reinventing higher education for underserved adult learners, and the Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, the first independent science and technology focused nonprofit university established in Pennsylvania in over 100 years, and Minerva University (enrollment 656), founded by Silicon Valley entrepreneur Ben Nelson to compete with the best universities using a proprietary online platform.
You can read more about this in my new piece at Forbes.com at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanpenprase/2025/09/26/startup-universities-provide-innovation-to-revive-higher-education/