Publications and Research
Document Type
Working Paper
Publication Date
Winter 2-13-2018
Abstract
This work conceptualizes a process for cryptocurrency to diversify traditional methods of higher education funding in the United States. Higher education funding has seemingly reached an impasse, and opinions remain divided over both which societal parties should bear the educational costs for the vast majority of Americans and how to remedy the student debt crisis. Cryptocurrency funding augments traditional revenue streams, and shifts the discussion of education costs from expenses to a more robust conversation about innovative avenues to wealth generation as a potential solution to fund the mission of American higher education. Historically, higher education has been rooted in scarcity frameworks and a type of zero-sum proposition for funding allocation, and this conceptual paper acknowledges the the central concerns of higher education funding and explores these arguments as legacy discourses rooted in career preparation, accessibility and affordability, and arguments about the need for a broad-based education versus more technical skills training. Further, an alternative model to current higher education funding models is presented to embrace technological, disruptive wealth generation based on cryptocurrency to deploy this asset class to serve education needs by funding research, students, and the academy through an illustrated conceptual framework for funding. implementation.