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Business side of education, part 2: this one, on the K12 side, from Forbes, and I don't love it.
Let's start here:
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A 2,500-year-old educational approach is quietly disrupting the $750 billion K-12 education market, creating opportunities for investors, entrepreneurs, and business leaders to pay attention to emerging talent pipelines.
Classical Christian Education (CCE) has expanded from a niche movement to a significant market force, with over 677,500 students enrolled across 1,551 institutions for the 2023-2024 school year. Projections indicate this figure could reach 1.4 million by 2035—representing billions in tuition revenue, thousands of teaching jobs, and a growing cohort of graduates with distinctive skill sets entering the workforce.
For business leaders and investors, this rapid growth in an education segment that prioritizes critical thinking, communication skills, and analytical reasoning deserves attention, particularly as companies struggle to find employees with these increasingly valuable competencies.
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Problem #1: "Classical Christian education" gets no definition here. The researcher is simply assuming that the ACCS/Doug Wilson model of classical education is the only one out there (in fact, she cites ACCS multiple times later in the piece). She then lumps all classical schools, and other classical education enterprises, under this single label (which, again, she doesn't describe). This is a constant irritation to me, one that I've addressed in multiple contexts, so if you want to know more, go listen to me on any number of podcasts or post here and I'll send you a link. "Classical education" is a big umbrella. "Classical Christian education" is a subset beneath that umbrella, and the ACCS brand of "classical" is an even smaller subset.
A little later, here's what she writes:
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At its core, CCE follows the Trivium—a three-stage approach that aligns with child development:
The Grammar Stage (K-6) builds fundamental knowledge when children excel at memorization
The Logic Stage (7-8) develops reasoning skills as children naturally begin questioning
The Rhetoric Stage (9-12) cultivates communication and eloquence as teenagers become socially aware
Unlike the modern focus on standardized testing and career preparation, CCE aims to develop students who can think critically, communicate effectively, and approach all subjects through a biblical worldview.
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But then, the reporter says:
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The movement's market segmentation reveals interesting patterns:
39% of classical education students are in home-based learning environments
34% are in evangelical Christian classical schools
18% attend classical public charter schools
9% are enrolled in Catholic classical schools
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So right there we can see that only 1/3 of the students the reporter describes fall under the "CCE" label assigned.
Moving on to Problem #2: Classical education certainly can educate students in the skills that will make them good employees. But classical education is diametrically opposed to training workers. The goal of classical education is to train a whole, healthy person. In Aristotle's words, the educated man (person) can "defend himself with speech and reason." That's the end point of the classical curriculum (something I've repeatedly spoken about), and although the ability to defend yourself with speech and reason can definitely make you a better employee, that's just a side effect of being a better (which means, more complete) human being.
I'm sure there's much more in this piece that readers would like to comment on, so have a read and post here.
The $10 Billion Rise Of Classical Christian Education
www.forbes.com
A 2,500-year-old educational approach is quietly disrupting the $750 billion K-12 education market, creating opportunities for investors, entrepreneurs, and businesses.1 week ago
Thank you for continuing to be a sound voice in the CCE space. And thank you for continuing to call attention to the fact that Doug Wilson’s ACCS is not the same as all CCE schools, and is actually a small subset of them.
So she quotes David Goodwin. Is that the only person she got her info from? Seems so. Her presentation of the Trivium is clearly the Doug Wilson one, which he made popular from Dorothy Sayers's ideas. Classical educators before the 20th century never viewed it this way, and there are many classical educators these days that also do not. This is the #1 way I can detect Doug Wilson's influence on a classical school or curriculum: is the Trivium presented as subsequent developmental stages that one graduates through? If yes, there's Doug. #2 sign that folks have drank his Kool-aid is calling it "classical Christian education," especially if they capitalize each word. Oh dear, she cited the horrific Good Soil study, one of the worst examples of "research" I have ever seen. I could write an essay about all of the problems there. Lmk if someone already has (or a podcast or something). One positive aspect of the study is that it said some of the quiet parts out loud: ACCS has a goal of forming a very specific type of person with very specific beliefs. Ironically, their measure of "independent thinker" required agreement with a particular stance on a particular issue. Here is a quote on the study's website, "This research seems to confirm what history has repeatedly demonstrated—classical Christian education can influence the course of a home, a community, or a nation." What history? What confirmation? What data is being cited here? I have so many questions. This author. Dear Lord.
Just a note: classical education isn’t inherently religious. It’s rooted in thinkers like Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero, and can (and should) be fully secular. Equating it with Christian models like ACCS misrepresents the broader tradition. Again, religion should stay out of education.
Statistics show a large result of this style of learning is entrepreneurs. The unconscious assumption of the author is aimed at creating employees, not employers. But the healthiest route for people is to pursue their life intentionally. That doesn’t always mean looking for a job. The entire cultural mindset of modern public school is based on creating a workforce- not creating people who run the workforce. Now if we account for that attitude shift and what it means, one might say that homeschool movements are refreshing our national diversity. That is a million people who are not looking for a job so much as a purpose. So even when you take into account that the author is quoting one branch of this movement and lumping it all into this one definition, it seems crazy to think it is anything beyond a widening of our modern world in an area that should never have been restricted.
Would love links to those podcasts you mentioned. I already listened to the Sons of Patriarchy one.
Send links please…. want to listen / think more on this😍
Next up: a few posts on the business side of education. Let's start with this succinct and valuable piece about college loans, from the Washington Post. The link should take you to the full text.
If you're planning out the fall for you or for your student, take note.
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Before you sign on that dotted line, let’s do something I like to call the “Stop, Drop and Roll” of student loans.
Stop! Just. Stop.
Don’t sign a single loan document until you calculate how much debt it will take to complete the degree — and how much in earnings will be needed to service the debt.
Don’t accept that a four-year university is the only choice. Community college can be a viable way to cut costs, and many are recruiting top students from high school by providing generous scholarships and a clear pathway to a four-year university — an economical way to take basic courses at a discount...
Drop the snobbery!
Drop this whole elitist attitude that a brand-name college defines people’s worth to all employers.
Yes, some companies want to recruit only from certain elite colleges, but more often employers are looking for students who have gained job experience while in college.
Seriously, folks, the student makes the difference, not just the college name on the diploma.
Or as the researchers in the New York Fed report put it: “Some of what we estimate as the benefit to college may not be a consequence of the knowledge and skills acquired while in school but rather could reflect innate abilities possessed by those who complete college.”
Roll your eyes
Every time someone says a student loan is good debt, I roll my eyes.
I’ve spoken to individuals, many approaching or already in retirement, who are still burdened by student loans long after earning a degree. They were once told this debt was a “good” investment — a stepping stone to a lucrative career. In fact, at the end of 2024, 2.8 million borrowers were 62 or older and were carrying student loan debt totaling $121.5 billion, according to the Education Department.
Framing these loans in such optimistic terms overlooks an unfortunate truth: When the debt becomes too large, it can derail a person’s financial future.
If you don’t believe me, ask any of the millions of borrowers facing default and significant damage to their credit histories. Many of them are having buyer’s remorse. The debt isn’t looking so good right about now.
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Column | With the U.S. cracking down on student loan payments, is college still worth it?
wapo.st
After a five-year pandemic-related payment freeze, the Education Department announced it will resume collections of its defaulted federal student-loan portfolio in May.1 week ago
Yes. 100% yes. Educate yourself on the loan situation. Don’t let your student fall in love with a school you can’t afford. There are tons of schools!!!! We told our kids very early on that we will not take out parent loans for them. We are fortunate to have a community college and a state university within driving distance. My oldest is going to Old Dominion University and living at home. He got the highest merit they offer. He says it’s just an ok school - but he will graduate debt-free and make the same amount of money as someone who took out tens of thousands of dollars in loans.
I am amazed that folks didn't do the math before they took out the loan. A middle-aged adult was complaining about student debt, and I asked how much they had borrowed, and since it was $35k I wondered why on earth they were still paying. I pointed out that people take out car loans that size all the time, but it's paid off over 5-7 years, and they wouldn't have paid twice that in interest if they would've just paid it off in a timely way. They just thought the calculations for student debt were somehow magically different, I guess. A loan is a loan is a loan, do the math, look at the full amortization schedule. If you only make minimum payments your whole life it acts more like credit card debt, but worse since it can't be discharged.
Teacher and Paramedic with 3 kids 2 years apart. I have a daughter who will be a junior in college and got free tuition plus on to a small liberal art school. My son graduates this year with a 4.3, a 35 ACT, and 5s on all of his AP tests, he is class secretary with tons of different activities in volunteering. None of these were things that we expected of him, he’s just that kind of kid. He applied to 9 schools. At the six private schools, he received between $30,000-$45,000 a year and would still have had to pay between 22,000 and 61000 a year. He did not receive full tuition to any of them, and we were told that loans were expected, since he was receiving so much money from them. I wish I had known upfront, before all of the essays and traveling to the schools for various competitions just how much he was really going to be offered. I never would’ve taken him to visit those places, and gotten his hopes up that that could be a reality for him He did get free tuition to the three state schools. He applied to, and some money towards his room and board. I was just really surprised that such an excellent kid and student wouldn’t receive at least one free tuition with Room board from somewhere. He was extremely disappointed, and I sat him down and made him actually total up how much the loans will cost him It took me a lot of digging just to figure out what the loans meant, what the interest rate was, and how they could accumulate overtime. It’s unrealistic to think that an 18 year-old could understand that.
And transfer scholarships seem to be plentiful for those who have had a good showing at community colleges.
We have four that went to college. We advised them to go where we could send them with no debt. It’s tough to say no to admissions to dream colleges that offer no scholarships. We have tried to teach our kids to hate debt. One is still finishing up but none have debt by God’s grace. It’s tough out there. “..the borrower is the slave of the lender…” Pr. 22:7
We need to teach our kids basic finances while they are in high school — ideally before their junior year. We tried to teach our kids basics with Financial Peace University. Dave Ramsey gets a lot of criticism but he teaches the basics and a healthy aversion to debt. I remember a day when there was a huge stigma to debt and a day when you would never use a credit card for groceries.
Susan Wise Bauer Serious question. If money were not an issue, would you recommend the reach schools? I understand that kids should take a serious look at the finances, but surely there are better and worse educations, right? Asking on behalf of motivated kids— the kind that would make it count.
This is a great post! I was rejected from the same university three years in a row and ended up graduating from a different one. Hilariously, the university that wouldn't accept me has offered me a job to teach on the faculty three different times. I'm so glad I went to school in Canada where the tuition cost around $3000 USD per year. My family had no trouble paying for it and I graduated debt free!
Why do we need High School for 4 years? The European model works well. Graduate at 16, pass test and get to move on for 2 more years of high school(community college). Then only going to uni. if you pass the test and get accepted. Every person should be graduating High School with an Associates degree. Debt Free!!
People should be more willing to work while going to college to get their Bachelors degree part time. Why are we rushed to “finish” in 4 years? Take fewer loans and earn a living while going to school. Will it take longer to finish, yep! But you will learn how to manage your time and actually value your education more, and graduate with less debt.
Renee Solomon