In this episode, Jeff Selingo and Michael Horn interview Michael Bettersworth, the vice chancellor and chief marketing officer of Texas State Technical College, about the institution’s experimental funding model that is completely determined by student employment outcomes. Bettersworth discusses the process of getting buy-in from state policymakers, cutting degrees that did not generate returns on investment, and forecasting emerging occupations to create curricula that proactively meets labor market demands.
For Bettersworth, the mission is clear: “Place more Texans in great-paying jobs…Our mission is economic development, is not conferring degrees. It is job training. The degree is a means to that when it makes sense to the labor market. ”