The Startup Spirit in Higher Education: Calbright’s Journey
Sep 01, 2025
Launching a new college is not for the faint of heart. Most higher education institutions carry decades — even centuries — of tradition, policy, and bureaucracy. But Calbright College is different. It’s a startup community college built from the ground up to serve working adults in California, and in our recent conversation with Dr. Shannon McCarty, we got an inside look at what that really means.
When Shannon joined Calbright three years ago, the college had just four faculty members and a small team of leaders. Today, it’s grown to nearly 200 employees, including instructional designers, multimedia specialists, student success coaches, and workforce strategy experts. The goal has always been the same: create career-focused programs that are free, online, and competency-based.
Operating like a startup brings unique opportunities and challenges:
- Agility over tradition: Instead of relying on decades of precedent, Calbright builds systems and programs iteratively, guided by student feedback and labor market needs.
- Culture keepers: The team uses shared values like “Keep students as the North Star” and “Move at the speed of trust” to stay aligned while doing hard, innovative work.
- Freedom from baggage: With no old processes to undo, staff can design from scratch — but they must also document everything as they go, since there’s no institutional memory to fall back on.
Shannon pointed out that this environment attracts people who thrive in innovation and ambiguity. For some, the lack of templates and history is daunting. For others, it’s energizing: a chance to shape education from the ground up.
For higher education leaders everywhere, Calbright offers a compelling case study: what if you approached your institution with a startup mindset, where iteration, feedback, and culture mattered more than tradition?
Reflection Question for You:
If your institution operated more like a startup, what traditions or processes would you rethink first?
Listen to the full episode with Dr. Shannon McCarty to hear how Calbright is redefining what’s possible for community colleges.
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