The Rise of “Degree Hacking” ...And Why Higher Education Better Pay Attention

 The Rise of “Degree Hacking” ...And Why Higher Education Better Pay Attention

I recently came across a fascinating article in The Washington Post discussing the growing trend of what many are now calling “degree hacking.”

If you have not heard the term yet, you probably will soon.

In short, people are figuring out ways to complete accredited college degrees at dramatically accelerated speeds and significantly lower costs through combinations of:

• transfer credits,
• online competency-based programs,
• alternative learning platforms,
• certifications,
• testing out of courses,
• and increasingly… AI-assisted learning.

Some students are reportedly completing bachelor’s degrees in months instead of years.

Now before many in higher education immediately dismiss this as some fringe internet movement, I would caution against doing so. In my opinion, this is not just a passing trend. This is a signal of a much larger shift happening in higher education right now.

And honestly? Higher education better pay attention.

What Is Really Happening Here?

This movement is not simply about “students trying to avoid learning.”

It is about several major forces colliding at the same time.

1. The Cost of Higher Education

Let’s be honest. Many families and adult learners are questioning whether the traditional four-year path is financially sustainable.

If someone can obtain:

• an accredited degree,
• while working full-time,
• for a fraction of the traditional cost,
• and complete it much faster,

that option becomes very attractive.

Especially for adult learners, career changers, and working professionals.

2. AI Is Accelerating Learning

We also cannot ignore the AI factor.

Today’s learners have access to:

• AI tutoring,
• instant explanations,
• study support,
• summarization tools,
• practice quizzes,
• writing assistance,
• and personalized learning support 24/7.

Whether higher education likes it or not, AI is dramatically changing how quickly motivated students can absorb and apply information.

That reality is not going away.

In many ways, AI did not create the pressure higher education is feeling right now. It simply accelerated issues that were already bubbling beneath the surface:

• rising costs,
• questions about ROI,
• concerns about relevance,
• and growing skepticism around traditional timelines.

3. Competency Is Starting to Matter More Than Seat Time

Traditional higher education has long been built around semesters, classroom hours, and seat time.

But competency-based education asks a difficult question:

If a student can demonstrate mastery, why should they be required to sit in a classroom for 15 weeks?

That question makes many traditional institutions uncomfortable because it challenges one of the foundational structures of higher education itself.

At the same time, employers are increasingly focusing on demonstrated skills and competencies rather than simply the traditional degree pathway itself.

We are beginning to see discussions around:

• skills-based hiring,
• competency transcripts,
• stackable credentials,
• micro-certifications,
• and alternative methods of validating learning.

That shift matters.

Here Is the Important Part…

I do not believe the traditional college experience disappears.

Far from it.

There will always be tremendous value in:

• campus life,
• networking,
• mentorship,
• collaboration,
• student organizations,
• internships,
• athletics,
• and the overall growth experience that occurs during college.

But I do believe the monopoly of the traditional four-year model is ending.

And that matters.

Higher Education’s “Blockbuster Moment”

There is an interesting analogy emerging in higher education circles right now.

Some argue universities risk having a “Blockbuster Video moment” if they fail to evolve with changing consumer expectations and technological realities.

I do not believe higher education is losing value.

Far from it.

But I do believe institutions risk losing relevance if they fail to adapt how that value is delivered.

That is a very different conversation.

So What Becomes the Value of a University?

This is where I think many universities need to rethink their positioning.

Because if content itself becomes increasingly accessible and commoditized, then the true value of higher education becomes:

• human connection,
• mentorship,
• experiential learning,
• networking,
• industry engagement,
• applied projects,
• career preparation,
• communication skills,
• leadership development,
• and community.

In other words:
The experience and the relationships become even more important.

This is exactly why I continue to believe strongly in:

• industry-connected curriculum,
• digital and AI integration,
• conferences and networking opportunities,
• applied learning,
• advisory councils,
• internships,
• and exposing students to real professionals and real-world challenges.

Students today need more than information.

They need:

• context,
• application,
• adaptability,
• critical thinking,
• communication skills,
• and human guidance.

The Role of Faculty Is Changing Too

I also believe AI is changing the role of faculty.

Faculty are no longer simply content deliverers.

Increasingly, they become:

• mentors,
• facilitators,
• coaches,
• discussion leaders,
• project guides,
• and translators of complexity.

The old “sage on the stage” model becomes harder to maintain when information is instantly accessible through AI.

Ironically, this may make great faculty even more valuable moving forward — not less.

Because students will continue to need:

• wisdom,
• perspective,
• ethics,
• accountability,
• and real human interaction.

We Also Need to Be Honest About the Risks

At the same time, legitimate concerns absolutely exist.

There are reasonable questions around:

• academic integrity,
• overreliance on AI,
• shallow learning,
• reduced attention spans,
• critical thinking decline,
• and credential dilution.

Those concerns should not be ignored.

Higher education must find ways to preserve rigor, quality, and meaningful learning outcomes while still adapting to changing realities.

This cannot become a race to the bottom.

Where I Think This Is Headed

I suspect over the next 5–10 years we will see:

• shorter degree pathways,
• stackable credentials,
• hybrid learning models,
• more competency-based education,
• increased employer partnerships,
• and greater integration of AI into learning environments.

At the same time, I also believe accrediting agencies and universities will eventually tighten oversight around extreme “speed-run” degree models to ensure academic quality remains strong.

But make no mistake:
This movement is real.

And institutions that refuse to adapt to changing learner expectations may find themselves struggling.

The future of higher education likely belongs to institutions that can successfully combine:

• flexibility,
• credibility,
• affordability,
• applied learning,
• technology,
• and authentic human engagement.

The universities that figure out that balance first will have a major advantage moving forward.

And frankly, this conversation is only beginning.

---

References & Related Reading

• The Washington Post — “Accelerated college degrees and the rise of degree hacking”
• The New Yorker — “Will A.I. Make College Obsolete?”
• ETS — “7 Trends That Will Reshape Higher Education in 2026”
• Ellucian — “Don’t Be the Next Blockbuster: Higher Education and Relevance”
• Forbes — “The Rise of Three-Year Degrees and Alternative Pathways”

 

 

Behind the Scenes of Running A Major Conference... What Most People Don’t Realize

When people walk into the Midwest Digital Marketing Conference (MDMC), they see polished stages, energized speakers, packed sessions, networking, branding, technology, smiling volunteers, coffee stations, food trucks, and a seamless attendee experience.

MDMC 2026 Session

What they often do not see is what happens behind the curtain.

Running a large conference is not simply “putting on an event.” It is the management of a high-stakes business operation with a fixed deadline, hundreds of moving parts, and no option to postpone when pressure rises. Industry research consistently notes that event planners face major stress around budgeting, staffing, logistics, rising costs, and stakeholder expectations. PCMA identified budget concerns as one of the top challenges facing event organizers, along with staffing shortages and workload pressure.

And that is exactly where the real story lives.

The Clock Never Stops

Unlike many business projects, conferences do not have flexible launch dates. Once the doors open, they open. Once thousands of dollars are committed, they are committed. Once guests arrive, excuses have no value.

The Project Management Institute has noted that events create a unique form of pressure because deadlines are immovable and schedule overruns are not acceptable.

That means every delay matters.

• A missing sponsor payment matters.
• A late speaker deck matters.
• A catering miscount matters.
• A registration tech glitch matters.
• An AV issue matters.
• A weather issue matters.
• A vendor misunderstanding matters.

And all of it tends to matter at the same time.

The Weight of the Wallet

There is another reality many people never fully understand:

At the end of the day, someone has to own the financial bottom line.

• Someone must look at contracts.
• Someone must ask if costs are justified.
• Someone must monitor ticket sales daily.
• Someone must decide what can be upgraded and what cannot.
• Someone must determine whether the event breaks even, loses money, or succeeds financially.

That responsibility can be lonely.

While others may focus only on programming, branding, hospitality, or creative ideas, the person carrying the financial burden must balance optimism with discipline. Hyatt notes that strong event budgeting is essential because it protects investment, reduces risk, and builds stakeholder confidence.

What many people don’t realize is how quickly small decisions turn into real dollars.

A simple request—like adding a second microphone to a breakout room—can cost $150–$200, even if it’s used for just one hour. A last-minute tweak to catering or AV may seem minor in isolation, but multiplied across dozens of rooms, sessions, and attendees, those changes can materially impact the bottom line.

Even food comes with constraints. Due to health regulations, anything not consumed within a short window—often just a couple of hours—must be removed and discarded. That means over-ordering isn’t just wasteful; it’s expensive.

These are the kinds of decisions happening constantly behind the scenes. Individually, they seem small. Collectively, they determine whether an event stays on budget, breaks even, or falls short.

In plain English: if the money side is not managed, nothing else matters.

Pressure Changes People

Pressure can also strain relationships.

When stakes are high, patience can shrink. Tone can harden. Emails can feel sharper than intended. Small misunderstandings can become larger than they should. Good people can say things they normally would not say.

This does not always come from bad intent.

Often, it comes from fatigue, urgency, fear, and the emotional weight of carrying too much for too long. Industry sources discussing event-planning burnout frequently point to the nonstop juggling of responsibilities and expectations as a major cause of tension.

That does not excuse poor behavior—but it does explain why grace matters.

What Leadership Really Looks Like

Leadership during conference season is not glamorous.

• It can mean making unpopular calls.
• It can mean saying no when others want yes.
• It can mean absorbing criticism quietly.
• It can mean keeping calm while others panic.
• It can mean protecting the mission while navigating personalities.

And sometimes it means repairing relationships after the dust settles.

Because once the ballroom empties and the lights dim, what remains are the people who built it together.

Why It Is Still Worth It

Despite the pressure, there is something meaningful about creating an event that helps others learn, grow, connect, and advance their careers.

That makes the stress worth carrying.

MDMC is more than sessions and speakers. It is opportunity. It is community. It is students meeting professionals. It is ideas becoming action. It is momentum for people who needed it.

So if you ever attend a conference and everything seems effortless, remember:

It probably wasn’t.

Someone carried a heavy load so others could have a great experience.

And more often than not, that burden falls on the one watching the numbers, signing the checks, and making sure the whole thing survives.

Sources & Further Reading

The realities described above are well documented across the events industry:

PCMA — Budget Woes Top List of Event Planners’ Biggest Challenges
https://www.pcma.org/budget-woes-top-list-event-planners-biggest-challenges/
(Highlights budget constraints, rising costs, staffing shortages, workload pressure, and stakeholder challenges in event planning.)

PCMA — Budget Pressures and Big Expectations: Insights from the Meetings Market Survey
https://www.pcma.org/budget-pressures-big-expectations-insights-pcma-meetings-market-survey/
(Explains how planners must manage strict deadlines, budgets, rising expectations, and complex operations simultaneously.)

PCMA — Event Planning: The Third-Most Stressful Job in the World
https://www.pcma.org/3rd-most-stressful-job-event-planning/
(Discusses rising costs, financial pressure, and the growing stress placed on those responsible for event outcomes and revenue.)

PCMA — Planners Under Pressure
https://www.pcma.org/industry-under-pressure-stress/
(Explores how stress is deeply embedded in event planning roles and impacts professionals across the industry.)

GoGather — Event Planning: Overcoming the Top 10 Challenges
https://gogather.com/blog/top-10-event-planning-challenges
(Details the complexity of managing budgets, logistics, vendors, travel, and attendee expectations across large-scale events.)

TEAM IM — 7 Key Challenges in Event Planning
https://teami.org/7-key-challenges-in-event-planning-and-how-to-overcome-them/
(Outlines core operational challenges including budgeting, coordination, and managing multiple stakeholders.)

Fundraising Coach — Event Planning Challenges and Solutions
https://fundraisingcoach.com/2025/01/17/event-planning-challenges-and-solutions/
(Discusses financial constraints and the difficulty of delivering high-quality experiences within limited budgets.)

Wikipedia — Event Management Overview
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Event_management
(Provides a broad overview of the complexity of event management, including budgeting, logistics, coordination, and execution.)

State of Digital: 2015 vs 2025 — What Changed (and What Didn’t)

 

By Dr. Perry D. Drake

Let’s be honest… ten years is a lifetime in digital marketing.

In 2015, We Are Social released one of the most widely shared global snapshots of digital behavior: internet adoption, social media growth, and mobile penetration. Back then, it helped the world understand what was becoming obvious: digital wasn’t “the future” anymore. It was the new normal.

Fast forward to 2025, and We Are Social’s latest Digital report shows a world that is bigger, faster, more algorithmic, and more AI-shaped than anything we could have truly predicted.

So here’s what I wanted to do: put these two worlds side by side (2015 and 2025) and pull out the real storyline.

Not just numbers… but what it means for marketers, business leaders, and honestly anyone trying to keep up.

1) The Digital World Got Bigger. But the Story Isn’t “Access” Anymore

2015: The world hit a digital tipping point

In 2015, the report captured milestones that felt huge at the time:

• The world passed 3 billion internet users
• Social media surpassed 2 billion users
• Mobile phone penetration passed 50%
• Active mobile connections surpassed the global population

That wasn’t just trivia. That was a worldwide shift. Digital had officially moved from “emerging” to mass adoption.

2025: Access is assumed. Behavior is the battle.

In 2025, the digital world isn’t just bigger. It’s basically everywhere.

What the 2025 report shows is that digital is now where:

• products get discovered,
• brands get evaluated,
• social credibility gets formed,
• purchases get influenced,
• and culture gets shaped.

And here’s the big shift:

In 2015 we were asking, “How many people are online?”
In 2025 we’re asking:

• Which platform owns their attention?
• Which algorithm decides what they see?
• Which formats dominate their consumption?
• How much is AI influencing all of this?

The 2025 digital world isn’t defined by connection. It’s defined by control.

2) Social Media: From “Mass Adoption” to “Influence Infrastructure”

2015: Social media was still a category people were learning

Back then, businesses were still asking:

• Which platform should we use?
• Do we need a Facebook page?
• Is Twitter important?
• What does “engagement” actually mean?

Social media growth was impressive, but the platform business models were still evolving. Influencer marketing hadn’t fully arrived yet.

2025: Social became a discovery engine (and commerce engine)

In 2025, social isn’t just “social.” It’s where discovery happens.

We Are Social’s 2025 report makes it clear: platforms now dominate:

• brand discovery
• product research
• purchase influence
• and a growing share of ad spend (plus influencer budgets)

Here’s the point I always tell students:

Social media isn’t where marketing happens in addition to everything else.
Social media is where the “everything else” often begins.

And one of the biggest trends worth spotlighting:

Social platforms are now competing with search engines, especially for younger consumers.

3) Mobile Went From a “Strategy” to the Default Reality Layer

2015: “Mobile-first” was still mostly a strategy

In 2015, mobile-first was basically code for:

• responsive design
• mobile-friendly websites
• fewer desktop-only experiences

The report highlighted the rise of mobile internet access and device adoption.

2025: Mobile isn’t just a device. It’s the environment.

Today, mobile isn’t a channel. It’s the default setting for life:

• navigation
• entertainment
• identity + social presence
• payments and banking
• shopping
• customer service expectations
• and even how AI assists our decisions

And here’s the key hidden shift:

Mobile no longer means browsing. Mobile means living inside apps.

This matters a LOT for marketing education and student readiness, because it forces people to think in terms of:

• platform-native content
• short-form storytelling
• algorithm-triggered discovery
• hyper-personalization
• fast creative testing + iteration

In 2025, that’s normal.
In 2015, it wasn’t.

4) E-Commerce Went From “Option” to “Expected”

2015: E-commerce was growing, but not default

Back then, many consumers still:

• researched online but bought offline
• distrusted online payments
• used digital mostly for information, not transaction

2025: Commerce is integrated into everything

In 2025, We Are Social treats commerce as baked into the digital ecosystem.

And the real change is this:

In 2025:

• people don’t separate “shopping” from “media”
• entertainment and commerce are blended
• content IS commerce
• creators are retail channels
• feeds are product catalogs

This is why marketing today is far more cross-functional than it was in 2015. Strategy isn’t siloed anymore. It’s integrated.

5) The Biggest Difference of All: AI Wasn’t Even in the Story (Now It’s Everywhere)

2015: AI wasn’t mainstream marketing language

In 2015, marketing tech was framed around:

• social media management
• email automation
• SEO / Google search dominance
• digital ads expanding

AI existed, but it wasn’t shaping daily consumer behavior or the marketing playbook.

2025: AI is the hidden layer of digital life

In 2025, AI is influencing everything:

• ad targeting
• recommendation engines
• search results
• customer service (chatbots)
• creative production (copy/video/image)
• synthetic media + influencer ecosystems
• workplace productivity and workflows

This shift deserves its own spotlight:

In 2015, digital marketing was about how humans use technology.
In 2025, digital marketing is increasingly about how technology uses humans.

That’s not negative. It’s the strategic reality now.

6) The “Dark Side” Trend: Digital Costs More (Socially, Emotionally, Politically)

This is the part most digital reports don’t emphasize enough. But it’s real.

In 2015, digital optimism was still dominant:

• connect the world
• build community
• access information
• “social” networking

In 2025, digital is still powerful. But it comes with major side effects:

• polarization
• misinformation
• deepfakes
• harassment
• addiction dynamics
• identity performance pressure

And here’s why that matters:

In 2025, marketers operate in an environment where trust is fragile. Credibility is not optional.

Key Takeaways for Marketing Leaders & Educators

If I had to summarize the “10-year shift” in real-world terms, it’s this:

1. Digital isn’t marketing. It’s infrastructure now.
   Consumer life is digitally mediated. Strategy has to assume that.
2. Social platforms aren’t “social.” They’re discovery engines.
   If you’re absent from social, you’re not quiet. You’re invisible.
3. Mobile isn’t a channel. It’s the default.
   If it’s not built for mobile-native life, it doesn’t exist.
4. AI is part of the marketing operating system.
   This is not a trend. It’s a permanent capability shift.
5. Trust is a brand asset.
   Credibility is currency, and it must be earned continuously.

Closing Thought: What Didn’t Change

Here’s the twist: the tools changed dramatically, but the fundamentals didn’t.

Technology changes fast.
Human psychology changes slowly.

Consumers still want:

• belonging
• status
• convenience
• confidence
• emotional satisfaction
• identity reinforcement

But now those needs are expressed through a digital environment that’s more algorithmic, more commercial, and more AI-driven than the 2015 world ever imagined.

And that’s why comparing these reports side-by-side matters: the tools changed, the scale exploded, but human motivation still drives everything.

Sources / Credit

• We Are Social (2015): Digital, Social & Mobile Worldwide in 2015
• We Are Social (2025): Digital 2025 (Global Digital Report)