Why Higher Education Needs to Become More Flexible part II

In the first of these two blog posts, we saw that many institutions in higher vocational education are pursuing flexibility—not only in their programs but also in the organization of education. There are several drivers for this development. The main internal drivers are declining enrollment, low student retention rates, and costly operational structures.

1. Declining Enrollment

Not every region is experiencing a decline in the number of students from secondary education (HAVO), but where it is happening, it is a significant driver for flexibility. Institutions that receive too few new students must take action to ensure their survival. Shifting the focus to retraining, further training, or reskilling adults is a very legitimate choice: lifelong learning (LLL) is gaining momentum, especially now that the National Growth Fund has allocated millions for the National LLO Catalyst. Due to societal changes, new technologies, and social issues such as the energy transition, the knowledge and skills we need are fundamentally changing. There is therefore a great need for institutions focused on retraining, further training, or reskilling adults.

2. Low Student Retention Rates

The issue of student retention is primarily financial. Institutions are paid per student per year but receive a bonus if the student graduates. Students who graduate late or not at all are expensive. An institution receives no funding for a student in their sixth year of study. Therefore, it is attractive for institutions to keep students enrolled and ensure they study at a good pace. For this, it is useful to align education better with what students actually want. You want to prevent students from stumbling over certain less important subjects and losing motivation.

Cornelese and De Graaf believe these rules could be revised at various points. For example, for students who want to pursue further studies. “Once you have obtained a diploma, government funding stops,” says De Graaf. “Someone who wants to pursue a master’s degree has to pay for it themselves.” There is also no option to pause studies. “If a student becomes pregnant or goes abroad, it would be a good idea to pause their studies for six months. But currently, there is no such thing as a pause button: you have to completely withdraw.”

3. Costly Operational Structures

How can you respond to the individual needs of students if higher vocational education is not yet organized for this? If one student needs research skills in their first year and another in their third year, how do you organize that? “If you do this per program, it creates a patchwork that is incredibly inefficient and therefore expensive. Why not have a research skills module that all students from different programs can use? You already see this in universities. It requires more collaboration and coordination,” says De Graaf.

The solution to this problem lies in standardization, adds Cornelese. “It’s like a car. As a customer, you can configure it yourself: with or without leather upholstery, with or without air conditioning. This is possible because the production process is standardized. It should be the same in education. The more you organize courses in the same way, in equal chunks, the more you can exchange them. This is not yet the case. If we tried to do this now, it would be expensive and chaotic.”

Educational institutions need to go back to the drawing board. This is no small feat. Cornelese: “Institutions will have to fundamentally restructure their education to make this truly possible. This is a painful process, especially since education is not currently bad. Teachers will say: I’m already providing excellent education. That’s absolutely true. But if you look to the future, with all the developments coming our way, we really need to do something. You can keep renovating your house for a long time: adding a bit here, removing a bit there, until it becomes a monstrosity. Then there’s no choice but to demolish it and lay a new foundation.”

Everything is Connected

How do you start with flexibility? This is not an easy question. All aspects of higher vocational education are affected by flexibility: enrollment, curriculum content, curriculum offerings, education organization, and graduation. And all these aspects are interconnected: if you choose to facilitate enrollment from vocational education (MBO), you will need to review the curriculum content. Suppose a teaching assistant wants to become a teacher and enrolls in the teacher training program (Pabo). Do you make them repeat the subjects they have already completed? Or do you grant them exemptions? And do they need extra training in other areas? This can affect the organization of education.

The recognition of various certificates is currently an issue, says De Graaf. “It is possible, but it is not standardized. As a student, you must provide all kinds of evidence of your competencies. You have to figure this out yourself; it is not really encouraged. You don’t always end up in the right class, which puts student engagement under pressure. There is much to gain here. If you want to attract a different target group, you need to organize it so that it becomes normal to bring in previously completed courses, internships, or other study credits.” And why shouldn’t a student with exemptions be able to enroll at a completely different time than the beginning of the school year?

Each aspect of flexibility brings its own challenges. Where to start? “Everything is connected,” acknowledges Cornelese. “That means you have to make a clear choice based on the different drivers. What is the most important thing to tackle first? Is it now relevant to target a different audience? Or to arrange those exemptions? Making the choice requires focus. Other things will follow naturally. It’s like a set of gears. You have to grab one gear to start, otherwise you’ll get lost in your ambitions.” De Graaf: “You just have to choose something and commit to it. Then adjust the strategy accordingly. The management needs to go back to the drawing board and decide what the biggest challenge is at this moment.”