Self-driving cars and trucks are on the verge of being the norm. Kiosks are overtaking fast food restaurants and airport check-ins. And even UPS drivers are learning how to drive via virtual reality before hitting the road in an actual truck. But where does this leave higher education institutions? Higher education institutions may need to think about for the future such as do they need to embrace cryptocurrency in its curriculum? Should students be able to earn a degree that takes months not years? Will students be able to order via a kiosk rather than through a human behind a cashier? In this article, I discuss where will higher education be five years from now.
 
Courses in Cryptocurrency
There is a growing phenomenon about cryptocurrency, and higher education will have to embrace it sooner or later. Remember the whole crypto current phase were one bitcoin was worth over $9,000. Since then the price has dropped dramatically. However, that has not pushed people away from cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency will be the norm on college campuses. There are even organizations on campuses for cryptocurrency. For example. The University of Minnesota has the Cryptocurrency Club. The reason why is because it’s the new wave of currency, ten years from now we will have a digital atmosphere, and students need to know technology.
 
Micro degrees will be recognized
Five years from now micro degrees will be more accepted by employers because they will come from institutions of higher learning and not an organization offering $50 for certification of completion.
 
Not all students have the time to go to college full time and may only need a few courses to get the proper training on a particular subject. With institutions needing revenue, they will come around and start granting micro degrees as an official degree to increase enrollment and as a revenue driver. 
 
Cafeterias will be self-serving
A while ago I was teaching a business course at an institution in a Chicago suburb where the cafeteria had self-serving vending machines and grab as you go. With institutions having to cut costs I can see where a large number of institutions will do away with its cafeteria staff and have vending machines and self-serving stations. Why waste costs on staff when you can place vending machines to serve student’s needs. And this also goes for coffees shops on campus where kiosks will be the norm.
 
Higher education institutions will have to move towards the future whether that’s jumping on the cryptocurrency bandwagon, awarding micro degrees or self-serving cafeterias time has changed and it's time higher education institutions do the same. Where do you see higher education five years from now?  

Student loan debt is getting out of control. So much so that it is in the $1 trillion mark on the amount of student loans. Let's hope that the government wipes out student loans for good so we can move on from this debt. 

What do you think? 

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​Most recently in one my classes, I made the joke that people should start getting evaluated on their grades by successfully passing through a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) line at a major airport during peak times with a short time span between getting in the TSA line and reaching their gate. I love to travel, but I cannot stand waiting in the security line and board the plane. It seems that people have lost their commons sense skills. A few weeks ago I was traveling from Chicago to Oklahoma City at one of Chicago's major airports, and a family was standing at the front of the boarding lane when clearly their boarding group was not even called. When other boarding groups were being called, they just stood there without barely moving. I was clearly agitated that the people working the counters would not say anything. 

Ladies and gentleman commons sense go a long way in the airports. If your boarding group is not being called or even close to being called do not block the way for others because for a few more dollars you can purchase priority boarding if you need to be one of the first to board the plane. 

If it were up to me, college students would need to pass a common sense test. I would set them off to a major airport (e.g. New York's JFK, Chicago O'hare, Los Angeles International Airport, or Atlanta) to fly domestically from one major airport to another. I would then make the student go through security at peak times and give them one of the middle boarding groups where the plane are filled with first-time flyers. 

Students would be evaluated on their patience, politeness, and if they have any common sense. For a bonus, they could fly to an international destination where they have limited ability to speak the language. And let's not forget its a resume line for real world experience. 

Where else would you get a real world experience dealing with people who forgot common sense and manners?

When reading over job classifieds on LinkedIn most of the jobs require some sort of masters degree and/or five or more years of experience. Let's not forget that job openings are either minuscule or non-existent so how than does a person gain experience if there are no jobs to begin with? Companies should start taking people who worked for start-ups or in the gig economy seriously and here is why. 

Working in a start-up or gig economy job will require the person to build customer relationship skills, leaderships skills, creative ways to gain customers, and most importantly patience. I cannot think of another job in the gig economy where being an Uber driver or TaskRabbit tasker would require patience with customers who may be impatient or rude. Or in the start-up world where there is no guarantee of a paycheck every two weeks. 

With that being said companies should also realize that job experience is going to come from non-traditional ways such as start-up experience and gig economy jobs and no longer from the typical 9 to 5 job that most have done away with. 

I've had several tries in the start-up world and there has been no better training that could prepare for working in a Fortune 50 company. I can tell you that having patience and building a strong team are critical factors in the start-up world that without them the start-up will most likely fail before even launching. Being in a start-up you have to continuously innovate and be persistent because if your not than there is no traction in the marketplace. And with no traction comes no money and with no money comes no job. 

Why wouldn't a company want someone with start-up or gig economy experience? If anything it shows that the person is hungry for success, ambitious, and willing to go the extra mile to get the job done. 

There are no safety nets in the start-up world or in the gig economy and that makes the person more creative, built tougher for the tough times, and be optimistic for the future. So companies I am telling you know if you want a person hungry for success, ambitious, and willing to go the extra mile for your company don't set aside a persons application when you see start-up or gig economy experience.