# The Program Sharing Model: How Rize Education’s Collaborative Approach Expands Access to Cutting-Edge Majors and Career-Aligned Learning

By Darin Francis · Published 2025-12-08 · Updated 2026-05-19 · Education Technology on MarketScale
Canonical: https://www.marketscale.com/industries/education-technology/program-sharing-experiential-learning-rize-education
Creator hub: signals in higher ed

> Small private colleges are facing unprecedented pressures: rising instructional costs, shrinking budgets, and mounting skepticism about the return on investment of a four-year degree. At the same time, employer demand for job-ready talent is accelerating, creating urgency for institutions to modernize curriculum and increase access to experiential learning. According to Rize Education CEO Kevin…

## Key points

- Small private colleges are under financial pressure and struggling to keep curriculum current with employer demands.
- Rize Education's collaborative program-sharing model lets institutions offer high-demand majors they could not sustain independently.
- The approach prioritizes career alignment and experiential learning to improve graduate outcomes and institutional relevance.

Block Field

Small private colleges are facing unprecedented pressures: rising instructional costs, shrinking budgets, and [mounting skepticism](https://agb.org/trusteeship-article/why-roi-matters) about the [return on investment of a four-year degree](https://www.insidehighered.com/news/students/careers/2024/05/24/public-skepticism-persists-about-value-college-degree). At the same time, employer demand for job-ready talent is accelerating, creating urgency for institutions to modernize curriculum and increase access to experiential learning. According to [Rize Education](https://www.rize.education/) CEO [Kevin Harrington](https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-harrington-0b2238100/), more than 60% of a college’s operating budget is tied to the traditional classroom model—a structure increasingly misaligned with today’s market realities.

How can institutions cut instructional costs, expand high-demand academic programs, and still deliver meaningful, career-aligned learning experiences?

[*signals in higher ed*](https://marketscale.com/shows/signals-in-higher-ed/) host [Darin Francis](https://www.linkedin.com/in/darin-francis/) welcomes Kevin Harrington, the co-founder and CEO of Rize Education, for a deep dive into how program sharing and employer-embedded experiential learning are helping over 120 institutions overcome these challenges. The conversation spans Rize’s origins, the evolution of online openness post-COVID, the employer engagement pipeline, curriculum development, and the future of modular experiential learning opportunities.

**Key highlights from the conversation…**

- **Program sharing as a new business model:** How small colleges are leveraging a shared curriculum model to reduce costs, expand offerings, and strengthen ROI for students.
- **Experiential learning as retention and recruitment strategy:** Why early exposure to real-world assignments improves student confidence, persistence, and enrollment outcomes.
- **Employer partnerships at scale:** How Rize sources practitioners from companies like Google, Meta, and growing startups to keep curriculum fresh and workforce-aligned—and why practitioners volunteer to participate.

Kevin Harrington is the co-founder and CEO of Rize Education, where he leads initiatives that make higher education more affordable, scalable, and workforce-aligned. His background includes serving as Assistant to the President for Innovation at Adrian College, helping design and implement new academic models. Earlier in his career, he worked as a real estate private equity analyst at Blackstone and co-founded Insidr Sports, gaining experience in operational leadership, market analysis, and mission-driven program development.

*Article written by MarketScale.*

Tags: experiential learning, Kevin Harrington, program sharing, Signals in Higher Ed, small private colleges

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