Education

Improving student outcomes, increasing access and affordability, and enabling new academic research across the entire education ecosystem

McKinsey’s focus is on improving education and employment outcomes for all to create a more prosperous society with equal opportunity, and enabling new research that builds stronger communities.

Improving educational opportunities has always been at the center of achieving sustainable and inclusive economic growth. As automation and artificial intelligence raise the bar for workplace skills, the power of education to transform individual and societal trajectories has never been higher. Yet deep inequalities remain between and within countries – in access, quality, and affordability of education.

McKinsey is committed to improving lifelong learning opportunities and outcomes around the globe by collaborating with clients on their top-of-mind issues while always keeping equity at the forefront of our work. Our teams include former teachers, institutional leaders, policymakers, and researchers with deep expertise across all levels of education from early childhood and K-12 to higher education and workforce development.

We serve education institutions and systems, governments, philanthropists, investors, and service providers. We complement our hands-on work with original research, which allows us to better understand the sector’s toughest challenges and build new capabilities to help solve them.

In addition to our client service, McKinsey is committed to partnering with education non-profits in our local communities, having supported over 80 educational nonprofits in over 20 countries in the past five years.

How we can help

Early childhood education and K-12 school systems

We strengthen early childhood, primary, and secondary school systems and institutions to expand access, improve student learning outcomes, and foster child well-being, with a special focus on historically marginalized and vulnerable populations.

Higher education

We help higher education stakeholders reimagine the future by designing and implementing strategies that improve student outcomes, increase access and affordability, enable more and better research, enhance operational and administrative performance, and ensure financial sustainability.

Workforce development

We prepare people for the future of work by designing, improving, and transforming workforce development systems, placing a premium on equity, inclusion, and the elevation of underserved communities.

Investors, philanthropists, and service and technology providers

We work with companies, investors, and philanthropies to develop and deploy innovative digital tools and support services that strengthen teaching and learning inside and outside the classroom, leading to more effective school systems and higher-education entities.

Case studies

Developing a ten-year road map for a public school system

We supported a Middle Eastern public school system to identify the root causes of low performance on international test scores through analysis of both performance (test scores across subjects, demographics, and over time) and health (student, teacher, and system mindsets, behaviors and resources). We partnered with the system to develop a ten-year road map across 15 initiatives to target 20-30 points improvement on international assessments.

University students hanging out in campus

Good to great transformation for a flagship US state university

We partnered with a flagship state university in the United States to improve how it delivered on its mission. Through engagement with more than 300 faculty and staff members, we helped to deliver impact in athletics, auxiliary revenues, enrollment, online growth, procurement, research, and student success. The institution saw a five percent increase in freshman enrollment, a ten percent increase in transfer enrollment, new research partnerships implemented, and net surplus captured from negotiation of contracts and savings from procurement initiatives.

Young student woman standing on street and holding books.

Increasing availability of affordable higher education in Latin America

We supported a leading university system in Latin America on a multi-year transformation to advance their mission of providing affordable higher education to underserved communities. We supported 140+ impact initiatives to strengthen the quality of academic programs (including launching hybrid modalities), improve retention and graduation rates, increase enrollment by over 14 percent, and enhance financial performance to foster sustainable growth.

Female nurse with laptop talking to colleagues against window in hospital

Designing and launching training for US allied healthcare workers

We partnered with an ecosystem of public and private institutions in the United States to establish a four-year program to train 10,000 workers across a range of skilled healthcare occupations—including medical assistants and coders—to address a skill shortage and the state’s future healthcare needs. We provided a rigorous design process, stakeholder interviews, and analyses of the employer and its skilling and credentials landscape using proprietary McKinsey tools and insights.

Young female trainee works with a grinder in a workshop, flying sparks

Developing a labor market model to support economic development

We supported a city in the Middle East to develop a labor market model to identify the talent required to meet its eight-year economic development road map to double its labor force and develop initiatives to address key bottlenecks – including increasing labor force participation of women, improving international talent attraction, and prolonging productive working lifespans.

Primary school girl looking surprised as she gets the answer right

Improving customer success for a US curriculum provider

We supported a K-12 curriculum provider in the United States to map district customer journeys across the school year, design a new customer success playbook to improve administrator, teacher and student experience in onboarding and ongoing curriculum implementation, and develop a change management road map to shift behaviors across the organization – resulting in $20 million increase in net revenue retention in the first year.

Community impact

From left to right: partner Ryan Golden with chair of the President's Board of Advisors Dr. Tony Allen and vice chair Dr. Glenda Glover.

HBCUs

McKinsey has a long-standing commitment to serving Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). We supported HBCU operations in the wake of COVID-19, and have worked with the President’s Board of Advisors (PBA) to develop a report to the President of the United States on how to best accelerate HBCUs on a trajectory of resiliency and long-term sustainable growth. We are humbled to have been awarded the Vista Prize for Public Leadership from The White House in recognition of this work which highlights our broader commitment to advancing education equity, excellence, and economic opportunity for the nation’s HBCU students.

Bottom Line

We are working with Bottom Line to help them expand their work supporting degree‑aspiring students from under‑resourced communities. Our multi‑year partnership includes strategic planning to help Bottom Line expand into additional cities and launching other initiatives to reach their goal of supporting 20,000 students to get into college, graduate, and start their first career role.

Braven

We partnered with Braven on a multi-year effort to scale their work empowering first‑ generation and underrepresented students in college by equipping them with the skills, networks, experiences, and confidence to secure strong first jobs. We collaborated with them on the blueprint of a one‑of‑a‑kind, one‑stop shop digital platform to create a simple, engaging, and streamlined experience for students and automate aspects of the Braven program. Read more about Braven in our 2023 ESG report.

Opportunity@Work

We have supported nonprofit Opportunity at Work in their efforts to ‘tear the paper ceiling’ and drive upward mobility for the 70 million workers in the US who are STARS (skilled through alternative routes). We have driven extensive research on skills-based hiring and built custom data-solutions to help employers implement new ways of screening for knowledge, skills and the capacity to learn – opening up new opportunities for workers without a college degree.

Enseña Perú

We supported Latin American nonprofit Enseña Perú to improve reading comprehension in primary schools by improving teacher training and coaching, class curriculums, performance and change management systems, and school district training tools. We designed and helped execute an initial pilot which will continue to evolve and scale in the coming years, with the ultimate goal of scaling it nationwide.

Akanksha India

We supported Indian nonprofit Akanksha to develop a five-year strategy to fulfill their mission of delivering a high-quality education to each child, no matter his or her background. We facilitated a research-rich and stakeholder-informed strategy process to explore opportunities to scale their school model to new geographies, build and experiment with capabilities at the state or district level, and experiment with innovative schools with existing beneficiaries.

Featured Insights

Diverse group of smiling students standing together. - stock photo

Report

Spark & Sustain: How all of the world’s school systems can improve learning at scale

February 12, 2024 -

Student achievement is stagnating globally and millions of children are not learning, but meaningful change is possible by taking lessons from systems that are beating the odds.

A teacher sitting at his desk looking at a booklet

Article

K–12 teachers are quitting. What would make them stay?

March 2, 2023 -

New McKinsey research shows that nearly a third of US K–12 educators are thinking of leaving their jobs. But there are steps districts could take to attract and retain the teachers the nation needs.

Article

How to transform higher-education institutions for the long term

March 9, 2021 -

As financial pressures on higher-education institutions compound, a transformation approach focused on five best practices can help leaders make lasting change.

Article

Defining the skills citizens will need in the future world of work

June 25, 2021 -

To future-proof citizens’ ability to work, they will require new skills—but which ones? A survey of 18,000 people in 15 countries suggests those that governments may wish to prioritize.

Education

How we can help

Get in touch

Case studies

Developing a ten-year road map for a public school system

Good to great transformation for a flagship US state university

Increasing availability of affordable higher education in Latin America

Designing and launching training for US allied healthcare workers

Developing a labor market model to support economic development

Improving customer success for a US curriculum provider

Community impact

HBCUs

Bottom Line

Braven

Opportunity@Work

Enseña Perú

Akanksha India

Featured Insights

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