Michigan college president explains innovative way colleges are driving down costs

Adrian College President Jeffrey Docking explained to Fox News Digital how a growing number of colleges are driving down costs in higher education.

"It's too expensive. Students are taking on too much debt. Even upper middle-class families are saying, 'We don't know if we can do this anymore.' And things are really falling apart at a lot of different schools right now," Docking said.

The for-profit company, Rize Education, acts as a middleman for a course-sharing platform that allows colleges to work together to offer online classes.

Docking argued that rising higher education costs are due to inefficiency and a lack of institutions working together to drive down costs like other industries in the private sector. He originated the idea of course sharing to allow universities to share professors, avoiding the cost of hiring faculty.

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"If you're teaching German at Adrian College and there's 10 other colleges and universities within a hundred-mile radius, and they all have a German professor, you have too many German professors for the number of students that are majoring in German," he explained.

"So, why don't you just have one or two German professors that share with the other schools and drive down that cost. It allows you to start new majors. We've just started 38 new academic programs and added one professor."

Docking built the company in 2019 with two Harvard graduates, Kevin Harrington and Connor McCarthy, after he convinced them to relocate from New York City to the middle of nowhere in Adrian, Michigan, a small town about an hour's drive from Detroit. Harrington and McCarthy worked at Adrian as assistants to Docking to learn about the business behind the higher education sector.

Harrington, CEO and co-founder of Rize, and McCarthy expanded the company to 65 employees. Five years ago, there were seven colleges using Rize. Today, there are almost 140 colleges using it and the number is projected to grow. 

"Five years ago, we had roughly 40 kids taking classes through this shared arrangement with other colleges. This year will be well over 10,000," Docking said.

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Over 1,500 students at Adrian College share classes with other colleges, according to Docking. Students would take classes the traditional way in person, then take a course at another 501(c)(3)-accredited college. 

"I had a presence all over the United States that wanted to get in on this, and I realized, 'Oh, we've got something here,'" Docking told Fox News Digital.

Harrington told Fox News Digital that 130 schools added over 700 new academic programs and career pathways at "1/10th of the cost, meaning costs for students can be decreased as these colleges expand and improve what they offer to students."

Since the platform has been so successful, Docking was invited to testify before the House Education and Workforce Committee on Nov. 18 during a hearing titled "The Future of College: Harnessing Innovation to Improve Outcomes and Lower Costs" at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C.

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Docking was among four witnesses to discuss innovative approaches they said would lower student debt and improve employment outcomes for college students.

"I think the reason I was invited to the committee is, instead of just acknowledging this, we did something about it. And we said that we need to take decisive action and make some big changes to drive down the cost of education," Docking told Fox News Digital.

College tuition has increased tremendously over the years and forced students into debt. During the fourth quarter of 2023, student loan balances stood at $1.6 trillion, according to data from the New York Federal Reserve. 

College costs have been a growing issue in the U.S., prompting many to find solutions.

Docking co-authored a book, "Crisis in Higher Education: A Plan to Save Small Liberal Arts Colleges in America" and is credited with bolstering the school's sports programs and doubling enrollment at Adrian College since he started working there in 2005. Now, the institution is offering more majors.

Ever since Adrian College formed a partnership with Rize, the institution has launched 27 majors, 13 minors and eight certificates in business, technology, engineering and healthcare. 

"The negative implications for a democracy like ours are just profound over the long term. We need an educated population. … When we start to whittle away at that because it's too expensive, we're all going to pay a price."