The Sunset of a Learning Standard
Last week, Stanford University announced it would be shutting down its Digital Education initiative of five years. This groundbreaking program didn't simply make high-quality, Stanford-taught courses available online for high schoolers; it opened the door to educational possibilities for thousands of low-income students across the country. Budget constraints and a lack of funding jeopardized the long-term future of the program, ultimately leading to its sunset, but the initiative has nonetheless set a standard for what accessible online education can look like.
Impact of the Initiative
Launched in 2021, Stanford Digital Education aimed to offer courses from the university to broader audiences through partnerships with various institutions. One such collaboration involved the National Education Opportunity Network (NEON), which brought dual-enrollment Stanford classes into high schools with high proportions of students from low-income families. Throughout its run, NEON enrolled over 2,500 high school students across more than a hundred schools throughout the country.
In addition to providing access to university-level courses, NEON brought Stanford educators into the classrooms of high school students, allowing them to earn grades on a Stanford transcript. Teachers said the courses not only delivered high-quality content but also sparked a newfound curiosity for learning in their classrooms. At the same time, students credited the program with helping them expand their educational horizons and envision themselves succeeding in college environments.
Shutdown Ramifications: Accessibility in Education
The closure of Stanford Digital Education does not simply end with the shutdown of an online learning modality; it represents a backtrack from an exciting experiment to broaden access to the kind of education previously available only at elite schools. It made, in the words of one student, attending college seem actually possible by "opening [their] eyes" to an educational opportunity they would never have otherwise imagined.
Critics of Stanford's shutting down of the program view the decision as emblematic of institutional pressures that shift priorities away from public-oriented access initiatives. They argue that the impact on educational accessibility and representation will continue if similar initiatives aren't supported elsewhere. The fact is, bringing quality learning to the convenience of screens brings a number of benefits, but these do not come without considerations:
1. Accessibility, though Difficult to Achieve, is a Top Priority
Stanford's program was a trailblazer in taking the kind of learning available at a select few of the world's most prestigious universities and delivering it right into the classroom of normal high schools.
2. High-quality Online Learning Can Expand Educational Access, but Engagement is a Must
NEON courses were not asymmetric videos; they involved Stanford faculty teaching and engaging with students in real classrooms, a dynamic that kept students interested and inspired them to look beyond their immediate circumstances.
3. Connection and Confidence Matter as Much as Content
Stanford didn't just teach from a textbook; its professors sought to connect academic content to what students found relevant, and this is what inspired the confidence they needed to look beyond their immediate circumstances.
Grassroot: A New Standard
The closure of Stanford Digital Education highlights real gaps in education that need to be addressed. Though Grassroot Academy does not employ renowned university professors, the content our learning partners teach from includes top-tier open source educational resources, such as those generously provided by Rice University and the University of Minnesota – as well as academic materials crafted by our team members themselves. The fact is, we were also students (not that long ago) and we understand the nuances of learning in a changing educational landscape.
That's why we designed Grassroot to be:
- Always available when you need it, whether you're asking questions, learning, or practicing – across all of our subject areas
- Engaging, to help you not only better retain the material but to also enjoy a learning journey not dependent on the reading of boring textbooks
- Personalized to your interests and abilities, to allow you to be your best self and explore the possibilities enabled by your learning in a way that's relevant to you
The shutdown of Stanford Digital Education indeed marks the end of a bold experiment in broadening access to elite learning. But its legacy — which includes the thousands of students whose educational trajectories shifted because of it — should not vanish due to budget constraints. This is why we at Grassroot remain committed to quality, accessible, and personalized online learning – this is why there's no better time to start than now.
