Sign up to receive our monthly newsletter, which includes insights, updates, and recommended reads from the Carnegie Foundation.

Is It Time to Ditch the Four-Year Degree?

The winds of educational change are blowing. Tim Knowles is the 10th president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, the 120-year-old organization that birthed the Carnegie Unit and the Educational Testing Service. Knowles is intent on steering into the teeth of that gale, working to retool the Carnegie Unit and intent on assessing the promise of innovations like the three-year college degree or micro-credentials. These reforms, especially micro-credentials, could open the door to dramatic changes in K–12 education. I caught up with him to discuss what’s on his mind and what it means for America’s high schools and colleges. Here’s what he had to say.
—Rick

Read more…

You Might Like

Carnegie Foundation and ETS Release Skills Progressions for Collaboration, Communication and Critical Thinking 

Read more

Why Opportunity Colleges and Universities Matter

Read more

Why Opportunity Colleges and Universities Matter

Read more

Video: Agile or Fragile…Are Universities Stuck in the Year 2000? | ASU+GSV Summit 2026

Read more