Jim Etter
Founder
American Public University System
What made an enlisted marine-turned-officer an education entrepreneur? And how does the school he founded manage to provide a college education to tens of thousands of students at no out-of-pocket cost to them? To Jim Etter, that's the magic of University 2.0.
Explain your notion of University 1.0.
The residential campus with centralized classroom teaching is University 1.0. It's a high-cost activity. It seemed to me to put the instructor first, rather than the needs of the student. Specifically, that learning architecture was not well-suited to a military student, like myself. I needed a school to follow me from base to base.
What entrepreneurial juices flowed as a result of that understanding?
I had seen thousands of Marine officers reading and studying on their own with no way to wrap a degree around their studying. Discharged from the Marine Corps in 1991, I was determined to bring a college education to them. Soldiers and sailors have limited time and money. And they are deployed or transferred frequently. On my basement picnic table I undertook the design project of my life.
How long did it take to design and build University 2.0?
I spent about a year and a half studying the offerings and operations of more than 60 correspondence schools, including the British Open University, ICS, UMUC, and numerous service schools, like the Army War College. During that time I undertook a backward design of the concept, beginning with the desired credential and a desired level of quality. Late in 1992, with a concept design, I hired a dean and an administrator to help create the prototype.
How profitable did it become, and how quickly?
We launched an email- and phone-based correspondence school in 1993 with 18 students and 23 courses, and we operated without accreditation for two years. Students came to us with cash and credit cards. My capital was donated by family and friends, and I worked until 1999 with no salary. Our first profitable year was 2002, at which time our three schools had 7,000 students. In 1995 we achieved accreditation from the Distance Education & Training Council. We achieved candidate status with the Higher Learning Commission in 2003 and full accreditation from them in 2006. After the 7,000 student point, we were able to consistently achieve a 25 percent profit margin on each incremental student. And that holds true, even today, with enrollment exceeding 50,000 and an educational system architecture that's a high-touch marvel.
How financially rewarding was it when you sold it?
My family and I are financially secure for several generations.
What was the most personally satisfying aspect of that entrepreneurial experience?
As it turned out, I was able to bring a no-cost, high quality college education to all military personnel.
What are you working on now?
I'm still focused on learning architecture, and I 'd like to launch University 3.0. The design includes an enrollment in the millions and very high educational quality.
Where would you like to be five years from now?
I'd like to be the leader of the pre-eminent 3.0 learning institution.