Distance Learning Meets ‘The Donald’

By Mark Hoerrner

Distance learning programs have come a long way since Sally Strothers hawked them on late night television commercials. With the proliferation of institutions like National Louis University, the University of Phoenix and Strayer University, colleges now offer a myriad of accelerated programs in everything from business certifications to Master’s degrees. Now Donald Trump, creator of the television phenomenon The Apprentice and one of New York’s most powerful real estate developers, wants in on the action.

"In today’s hyper-competitive business climate, the need for the highest quality education has become more crucial than ever," Trump said recently as he announced the creation of the university that will bear his name. "But people are looking beyond the traditional business education model, which involves hours in the classroom and relies primarily on book learning."

The core of Trump University, which opened in May, is a virtual one, with staff hoping to encourage "a vibrant online community," according to its website. Courses will also be offered through audio and video channels as well as live seminars. The Donald has tapped Fortune 500 talent to serve as the faculty of the university. The focus of the college is on teaching students about marketing, real estate, and entrepreneurship.

"People need education fast and it has to be practical, something they can apply immediately to real-world business problems," Trump said in a statement.

Michael Sexton, a consultant in the business of developing emerging companies, is Trump’s pick to hold the university’s presidency. Sexton has pulled faculty members from top colleges like Dartmouth and Columbia to join the staff, but it’s unclear as to just how much interaction students will have with the esteemed scholars. Most of the faculty is more engaged in curriculum development than actual instruction.

"We wanted to have a solution that was scalable at the end of the day," Sexton said. "The faculty have a lot of interaction up front in designing the curriculum. That was our plan from the beginning because we wanted to make the delivery of the instruction to be self-paced, and we’re packaging learning in a different way."

Sexton notes that there have been requests for more instructor-led teaching and said that the university is putting the finishing touches on some courses that will include more interaction with the faculty, most likely through the avenue of a "one-to-many webinar" where professors will lecture online and take questions from a global student audience. The university is partnering with Microsoft to use the LiveMeeting platform for these webcasts. Trump himself led a recent webcast, which Sexton characterized as "highly successful."

Courses are relatively low-cost compared to traditional programs, with the first courses out of the university coming in at around $300. With titles like "Think Like an Entrepreneur," "Market Your Way to Profits and Growth," and "Buy a Home Like a Real Estate Pro," Trump is focusing his courses where he believes universities are most lacking: in giving insightful, practical business advice.

Trump University will be coming to Barnes & Noble bookstores on Jan. 2 with an offering of nine different audio courses. The courses will include three audio CDs, a CD containing supporting documents, and a downloadable workbook, as well as a year’s subscription to a course Web site. In keeping with the goal of increasing instructor-led components to Trump University instruction, the faculty member who authored the course will be expected to do several Web conferences a year to reinforce the course content, Sexton said. The audio courses will sell for around $50.

"We’re very flexible with how we package our content," Sexton said. "[The courses] are very experiential. Everything we do is focused on being practical and actionable. We don’t want to put something out there that’s purely theoretical."

While there are no admissions standards, degree programs, or commencement ceremonies, Trump University is focused on educating students who want its practical offerings. "People will learn by doing;" Sexton said, "the courses are more like simulations."