Shift_Up

We’re building a new educational model for the 21st century. People think the future of learning is online, because it brings the promise of equity at scale. However, learning online is a lonely experience, and 93% of people dislike it. While Massive Online Open Courses have 110M learners and 18.5% of college students are online-only, growing at 22% in last 5 years (vs. traditional college student enrollment which has dropped by 14% over the same time period) - they face issues of completion and graduation rate. Average completion rates of MOOCs range from 5-15% and have stayed steady for last 6 years. Students are also 9% more likely to drop out after taking an online class than in-person one.

Solution: The answer is hybrid learning experiences - using technology to deliver content, with an in-person community to support the learner in every local community.

owever, learning online is a lonely experience, and 93% of people dislike it. While Massive Online Open Courses have 110M learners and 18.5% of college students are online-only, growing at 22% in last 5 years (vs. traditional college student enrollment which has dropped by 14% over the same time period) - they face issues of completion and graduation rate. Average completion rates of MOOCs range from 5-15% and have stayed steady for last 6 years. Students are also 9% more likely to drop out after taking an online class than in-person one.

The solution is to build physical spaces for every online learner - partnering with different learning platforms to do so. We provide the wraparound services to allow students to thrive in a community through 7 key elements:

Study spaces to stay focused
Community of peers to build motivation
Live coaching to get learners unstuck
Personal trainers to ensure accountability
Learning roadmaps to give direction
Diverse events to provide enrichment
Employer networks to get learners hire

We have a pilot location in Detroit, Michigan with 40 members. Of the 40 members, 70% are people of color and the majority with incomes in the $20K-60K range. 10 of our members have gotten jobs and 96% say they would be disappointed if Shift_Up closed. This is the best way to reach underrepresented students at scale.

The hybrid college model has been successfully prototyped by different organizations in different locations with encouraging results. At Da Vinci X, an open access postsecondary extension of a K-12 charter school, students from low income households and students of color have been retained
at 95% fall-to-fall, which dwarfs comparable efforts by community colleges who retain similar student populations at 42-53%. Similarly, open access hybrid college initiatives in Boston (Duet) and Austin (Peloton) have led to three-year graduation rates between 70%-80%, which is significantly higher than at community colleges where the average graduation rate is 29%. 

As mentioned earlier we have the ability to create impact at local level for millions of learners around the country with personalization and deep understanding of their needs to improve their skills through multiple tracks (right now it is Unity, Digital Marketing, Software Development and UX).

Right now, our main competitors are non-profits who have validated the idea that blended learning can work at the local level and create meaningful difference in a students' life. Massive Open Online Courses companies and online colleges have been excited by the opportunity to pilot with us to test the impact of hybrid learning and build community for their learners - which means we have a unique opportunity to reach underrepresented students at scale. 

Right now the technology is primarily a student portal, learning roadmaps, and curated resources that help students progress through their goals - but our goal is to create a one-stop shop for students to discover, explore, learn, and get a job on a local leve. 

We have 96% retention rate and 92% NPS with students from a diverse audience and knowledge that hybrid models work at improving graduation rates. We believe that learning online must evolve to include in-person learning and deep understanding of the local communities it serves. We believe that learning and college should come to the communities vs. forcing the communities to come to them.

40 people currently with pilot proposals this year to reach up to 400 people. At scale, we have a LOI with a physical space provider that sees 15M people in people looking to reskill. 

Our goal is to have a Shift_Up learning gym in every neighborhood throughout the country and to expand to 3-5 gyms in 2021 with key MOOC, online college, and skill-specific (Azure, Unity) partners. 

COVID-19 presents some challenges, although we have been able to shift fully online in the meantime and retain the majority of our users. Funding as well.

For COVID-19, we will continue to operate online until we can return to in-person services with events, employer networks, coaching, and accountability shifting in that direction. We are also at the final stages of pitching companies with a combined 45M in users an online-only experience of Shift_UP. In 2021, our focus will return to in-person learning gyms. 

For funding, we are applying to programs like this as well as reaching a number of angel investors.