Schools for building portfolios, not credentials

In many fields, during the hiring process a portfolio of demonstrated skill is as valuable, or even more valuable, than a traditional degree. These fields include programming, design, journalism, data science, visual art, marketing, photography, 3D prototyping, fashion, sound engineering, game design, business, creative writing, video and podcast production, and many more. Before builders can get hired, they often need to demonstrate what they’ve already built.

Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs, were supposed to unlock an inexpensive, skills-based education for millions of people all over the world who for various reasons cannot go to college or graduate school. But sitting at home, subject to the regular routines and demands of life and without mutual support and shared projects, it is very hard to put together an impressive portfolio.

The missing piece is something that combines the low-cost, skills-based approach of a MOOC with the in-person element of a traditional university: a type of “microschool,” but at the graduate level. Microschools at the K–12 level have been popping up across the country since the pandemic. Microcolleges, many of them emphasizing practical work, have been a thing for some time. We need the same for graduate school, focused on tangible results.

Imagine a type of school, possibly in a single large house — where people come for six months to two years to pursue collaborative projects and build portfolios. Some of these schools will focus on particular domains, especially ones that require expensive equipment or expert support. But in most, students will work in complementary domains, so they can build projects together that they could not build alone. A person learning front-end web development can work with someone doing back-end development, and with someone else practicing visual design. Together they can build an outstanding experience for a web app that will shine on their job applications.

Starting a microschool is inexpensive, low-risk, and free from regulatory burden. A prospective “administrator” only needs to rent a large house, draft the house rules, and put out an effective bat signal.

Existing models are mostly limited to the well-connected and high-rent world of Silicon Valley “hacker houses,” where young coders and engineers build projects together, typically with a strong for-profit motive. But the idea is starting to spread: In 2023, the social psychologist Adam Mastroianni used his popular Substack to advertise a “Science House,” where several young scientists are currently living and researching outside the strictures of a traditional Ph.D. program. At Science House, funded by Emergent Ventures, the goal is to produce research, not a business.

Initially, blogs and word-of-mouth will be important for connecting learners and schools. Over time, bespoke networks and tools will develop to help learners find schools that best suit them in terms of location, culture, cost, funding model, academic support, post-graduation networking, and so forth. Schools will have their own portfolios showcasing the projects completed there, attracting motivated learners and introducing a healthy selection pressure to the ecosystem.

These first forays will lead to a flood of innovation, expanding the boundaries of what higher education looks like and how it is funded — and launching the next generation of builders, debt-free and armed with real skills and experience.