A Q&A reflecting on the importance of a learning experience that evolves to meet the student needs.
Adam Bush is co-founder and current president of College Unbound, a nonprofit educational institution that serves adult learners. Founded a decade ago in Providence, Rhode Island, College Unbound now has locations in a dozen cities across the United States. The founders’ vision was to create a college that could welcome full-time workers and parents who need flexibility, support, and an immediately relevant curriculum.
Today, the average age of CU’s over 500 students is 38—three-quarters are Hispanic or Black, three-quarters are women, and many are impacted by poverty and trauma. CU aspires to be student driven, not simply student centered. Each student develops a personal learning plan that culminates in a research project and graduation with a Bachelor of Arts in organizational leadership and change. Three-quarters of CU’s graduates continue their project in their work and two-fifths go on to graduate school.