The Content Marketing Institute in Cleveland, Ohio, recently released it’s first enrollment for their new Content Marketing University – be assured, this is the future of education. Working at a University for 10 years, I’ve seen the good and bad of higher education, and experienced both myself. I wasn’t very fond of high school, I felt limited because of where I lived, and what classes were offered. I feel as if I spent the 10 years after high school catching up to where my brain told me I should have been all along. Unfortunately, I’m not alone in my feelings.

Being stuck in a degree means that you are taking core classes to help fill out a minor, or meet the accreditation requirements imposed my accreditation bodies or the higher learning commission. This means you are paying for instruction that has no impact on your core degree or your interests. Interest to me, is what is key about what the CMI is offering.

What is unique about this Content Marketing University, is that you don’t leave with a degree that you can validate on your resume in the “Education” section, but you can leave with a lot of text in the training section, and even more so, in the portfolio area.

The CMU curriculum allows you to follow particular paths that will help you develop your skills in everything from content strategy, to audience to storymapping. Maybe you have strong writing skills and story telling isn’t the issue, but getting it the right attentive audience is, there’s a track for that. Your training and education becomes what you want it to be.

How’s this the future of education? In higher ed, unless you are an adjunct, the system wants you to be a PhD or hold a master’s degree. But I’d rather take a course from people like Joe Pulizzi and Robert Rose, guys that have literally written the book on these topics. Education has to make this shift. Let these experts develop content that can be integrated into university level curriculum. Just like in content marketing, you add value to your education, not bullshit required classes to fulfill some credit requirement.

Very soon employers are going to start tightening up their belt buckles, and in doing so they are going to look for quality work over qualifications. These short track educations will fill in that quality work for individuals and I’m excited for the results.