Kickstarter

WHAT'S THE PROBLEM?
Learning is a lifelong right for all, but our current education system is broken. A couple of months ago, I wrote an article titled, "College, Inc." which talked about the problems with our higher education system. Today, the pinnacle of education is getting into college, and not about learning. In this day and age, the skyrocketing cost of a college education heavily outweighs the value it provides. All told, some 17M Americans with college degrees are doing jobs that require less than the skill levels associated with a bachelor’s degree. And the Wall Street Journal just published an article that stated that “Americans now owe more on their student loans ($830B) than their credit cards ($827B)". My article shed a light on this inevitable student loan crisis, and the collective action we can do to prevent it from happening. It received so many hits within 24 hours that it took my blog down!

WHAT WE'RE DOING ABOUT IT
We want to spread awareness about the student loan crisis, to reframe the country's views of higher education and start a dialogue about how we can solve the problem. We received an overwhelming response and a lot of positive feedback on the article, but that’s only the beginning. The rising costs of higher education coupled with the diminishing returns of college degrees will only get worse over time unless we actively learn how to fix and prevent it. Thus, utilizing an animated video as our voice, we'll paint a picture of why this is a problem we cannot ignore. Our goal is to receive over 100K+ views.

WHY THIS WILL BE AWESOME
- We've teamed up with The Cultivated Word, who produced the "Entrepreneurs Can Change the World" (500K+ views) and "Thank a Teacher" (200K+ views) animated videos.
- Now we're looking for you to pitch in to help us get the project started and cover a small portion of the costs. I will match each donation on Kickstarter and will also cover the remaining majority of costs. Know that your donation will help inform, and, hopefully reform higher education.

PARTNERS
- Skillshare is a platform to learn anything, from anyone. Our mission is to flip the traditional notion of education on its head and revolutionize learning. We're a new startup launching November 2010.
- The Cultivated Word is a boutique creative services agency dedicated to helping companies and organizations transcend the traditional boundaries of marketing and advertising. We produce videos that uplift, copy that compels, and stories that stay with people forever.