This summer, Bain & Company released a research report claiming that universities face a financial crisis: less than 20% of universities, at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, had strong financial resilience. Researchers give a few pieces of advice for educational institutions to survive; one of them lies in the transformation of universities’ economic models and new partnerships with businesses. Recent developments demonstrate that the latter is booming.

1. BCG partners with Cambridge Judge Business School and Columbia Climate School

On September 26, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) established partnership with Cambridge Judge Business School and opened in 2020 year Columbia Climate School to train its 25,000 employees in climate science and sustainable solutions and provide the schools with more insights from real-life business challenges. Global leader for Climate and Sustainability at BCG Hubertus Meinecke says: “Cambridge and Columbia universities can offer us the best scientific understanding of the climate crisis, the regulations, and technologies to address it.”

2. Microsoft Hong Kong collaborates with CUHK Business School

Microsoft Hong Kong and The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Business School have formed strategic partnership this summer. Starting this academic year, the newly established partnership makes CUHK Business School the first business school in Hong Kong to become a Certiport Authorised Testing Centre, where more than 3,000 students can obtain industry-recognized Microsoft Certifications. Students get access to Microsoft Fundamentals courses in such fields as Artificial Intelligence (AI)I, big data, and the cloud and will get certifications if they pass exams.

3. Infosys partners with Harvard Business Publishing

Virtual learning platform Infosys Springboard collaborates with Harvard Business Publishing to create free digital content to prepare Indian students for future work in the industry. This partnership is part of Infosys’ plans to provide 10 million people with digital skills by 2025. Students will get access to select Harvard Business Review articles, videos, and podcasts and will be able to participate in 10 Harvard ManageMentor educational courses, studying Project Management, Change Management, Innovation and Creativity.

We expect the trend of leading consulting, technology, and EdTech firms joining forces with leading educational institutions to continue.