Why education isn't keeping up with the creative industry

Fast Company

08-07-2025

Creativity's value to business success can't be overstated. Not only do 70% of employers say that creative thinking is the most in-demand skill, but studies show that companies prioritizing design outperform those that don't by two to one. And as the rise of AI, social media, and creators continues to quickly transform both business and culture, it will likely be the creative industry—and those working within it—that will help others navigate that change. Things are evolving quickly and creativity is essential to that evolution.
So then, why is it that creative education—the backbone of creativity —is largely standing still while others are embracing change? For decades, the current creative education landscape in the U.S. is largely private, expensive, and increasingly out of sync with the industry's real needs.
Most accredited creative programs follow a similar structure: multi-year degrees with high tuition costs, studio-based courses, and portfolio development as the primary measure of progress. While these programs can offer technical training and creative rigor, they often produce similar outcomes: predictable ideas in an industry that thrives on surprise. Also, creative tools and thinking are changing every day, necessitating constant learning not facilitated by current models.
Of course, creativity can thrive outside of formal education. Especially now, creative tools are increasingly accessible, and that's a good thing. Also, platforms like TikTok, Canva, and AI-driven products have lowered the barrier to entry, and today's creators are proving that you don't need a degree to have a voice, or an audience. But access to creative tools isn't the same as understanding how to use them well—or how to achieve a level of craft in execution that not only produces results but is worthy of being celebrated.
Structured education still matters. So, instead of abandoning creative education altogether, the answer may be in forcing it to evolve–embracing new models that acknowledge the real-world needs of business and culture.
When education fails, everybody loses
In my work with creative organization and educational nonprofit D&AD, I've seen the lack of innovation's impact in creative education in the U.S., especially as expensive tuitions and employers' reliance on traditional talent pipelines leads to creative homogeneity:
Business growth suffers when companies pull from the same narrow talent pools. Diverse perspectives drive cultural relevance and resonance. And for Gen Z in particular— demanding cultural alignment from the brands they support—the cost of getting it wrong is higher than ever.
Diversity of thought suffers when teams are filled with people who've had the same training, same references, and same industry touchpoints. Surprising ideas don't arise from predictable inputs. Across marketing, branding, and beyond, we're seeing the effects—ideas that feel increasingly familiar—created by teams that look increasingly alike.
Entry-level, mid-level and even leadership demographics stagnate because if the pipeline into the creative industry is closed, the pipeline up stays closed too. Studies show that this kind of lack of leadership diversity hurts business innovation as well.
The current U.S. traditional creative educational model only perpetuates these issues, excluding not only the same groups often left out of higher education—low-income students, first-generation college students, Black, brown, Indigenous, neurodivergent, and rural creatives—but also a growing cohort of social media creators as well as creatives with raw talent who never had access to training, mentorship, or even the vocabulary to describe what they're good at.
Strengthen creative education
Fortunately, there's been a major shift in how alternative creative programs are viewed, not just by talent, but by the industry itself. What once felt like a 'plan B' is now seen as a fast, relevant, and often more inclusive way to surface new voices and ideas.
Alternative programs don't need to be a threat to traditional creative education. In fact, organizations like ours can provide insights into how to evolve to provide what talent needs.
Commit to low cost or even free: More urgently, access remains a major barrier. If you can't afford tuition, unpaid internships, or the time it takes to build a portfolio, you're often locked out—not because you lack talent, but because you lack the means to invest or even awareness that this path even exists. That's why, at D&AD, our night school Shift is fully-funded with no cost to the student, while still delivering a 74% industry placement rate. Other educational institutions need to follow suit, offering ways to dramatically decrease the financial barrier to entry. With the right access, the right talent will show up.
Stress real world skills: Most creative programs do a good job teaching skills, but rarely offer the context students need to thrive in the real world. Students learn how to ideate, design, and critique. But they are often not educated on the other important aspects essential to success: understanding the pace, context and nuance, mastering the soft skills essential to conversation and collaboration, as well as how to function productively as part of a team. We've found that by taking on live briefs from brands like Spotify, Adidas, Diageo, and Airbnb—presenting ideas, fielding feedback, and navigating ambiguity in real time—we've been able to nurture creatives to hit the ground running in a workplace.
Nurture a learning mindset: The only constant is change, so it's critical to embrace an approach that prioritizes discovery and experimentation. The simple fact is that you can't expect relevant creative work from teams running on outdated approaches. Iterative training isn't just about tools. It's about staying connected to cultural shifts, industry changes, evolving platforms—and most importantly, changing audience expectations. The most impactful creative work comes from teams that are learning continuously, not just about craft, but about context. More traditional creative colleges and schools need to build iterative offerings that reflect this reality.
The truth is that the best creative education doesn't just teach craft; it nurtures curiosity, builds confidence, provides context, and fosters community. These aren't immutable qualities but ones that evolve and change, especially now that social and technological factors have radically altered the creative industry and the businesses relying on it. We have to invest in creative people, not just the creativity. And it starts by giving creatives the right education.