Building Bridges: Three Essential Strategies for Successful University-Industry Partnerships

When the University of Liverpool's online MBA program ranked #1 in the UK & #13 globally on CEO Magazine’s Global MBA Rankings List, it wasn't just a win for the university but a proof point for what can happen when academic excellence meets industry expertise through a strong partnership. The program's standout performance demonstrates the power of well-executed collaboration between higher education institutions and industry partners.

At Kaplan Open Learning, I've learned that successful partnerships aren't built on contracts alone. They're developed through shared commitment, mutual respect, and a willingness to challenge conventional approaches to education delivery. Over years, collaborating closely with world-class institutions like the University of Liverpool and the University of Essex, we’ve seen how that alignment becomes even more critical in the face of global uncertainty.

Today’s universities are confronting accelerated change on every front: from generative AI and shifting student demographics to rising economic pressures and geopolitical volatility. In this landscape, no institution can — or should — navigate alone. Private sector partners with global reach and cross-market experience can offer universities the insight, tools and perspective to adapt with confidence, innovate responsibly, and stay focused on outcomes that matter. 

Here are three critical strategies that separate thriving partnerships from those that merely get by.

How To Build Better University Industry Partnerships

1. Lead With Transparency, Even When It's Uncomfortable

The foundation of any strong partnership is true honesty about capabilities, limitations, and expectations — particularly in an age of accelerating change. Too often, organizations enter partnerships presenting only their strengths while glossing over potential challenges. This approach might win bids, but it rarely leads to lasting relationships.

In my experience, transparency, even when difficult, is essential. Honesty and compromises ensure nothing feels one-sided for either partner. This means being upfront about what each partner brings to the table, as well as what they don't. Universities bring academic rigor, research expertise, and established pedagogical frameworks, whereas industry partners like Kaplan contribute technological infrastructure, market insights, online educational experience, and operational efficiency. Neither side has all the answers, and acknowledging this creates space for genuine collaboration.

When the University of Liverpool needed to rapidly re-launch their online offerings, it was the transparency about resource constraints and technical capabilities that emboldened both partners to make informed decisions about timeline, quality standards, and support structures. The result wasn't just program delivery but innovation that set new industry standards, including the world's first Advance HE accredited 100% online external postgraduate certificate.

In today’s high-stakes environment, transparency must be systemic. That means regular check-ins that go beyond status updates to address concerns, sharing both positive and negative feedback from stakeholders, and creating systems for early identification and resolution of potential issues. It's about building trust through vulnerability rather than trying to appear invulnerable.

2. Align on Vision, Not Just Deliverables

As universities reassess their missions in the face of AI disruption and global change, clarity of vision becomes more important than ever. Many partnerships focus extensively on deliverables but don’t spend enough time ensuring partners share a common vision of success. This misalignment often becomes apparent only after significant time and resources have been invested.

The most successful partnerships I've observed start with discussions and ensuring there is alignment about educational outcomes and student success. When Kaplan Open Learning partners with universities, our conversation begins with understanding each institution's unique mission and how online education can extend that mission globally.

For the University of Liverpool, this meant ensuring that online programs reflected the same academic standards and "Liverpool Curriculum Framework" principles—including authentic assessment, digital fluency, active learning, and global citizenship—that define their on-campus experience. Rather than creating separate "online versions" of programs, our partnership focused on delivering equivalent educational experiences through different modalities.

This shared vision extends beyond academic quality to student support and career outcomes. When programs are designed with a clear understanding of student needs, partners can make aligned decisions about everything from assessment timing to support service availability.

Vision alignment also means being willing to evolve together. The most successful partnerships I've seen adapt their approaches based on student feedback, market changes, and emerging educational technologies. They're not rigid contracts but living relationships that grow stronger through shared challenges and successes.

3. Embrace "Outside the Box" Innovation Together

Perhaps the most critical factor in partnership success is the willingness to challenge existing practices and co-create new approaches — even more relevant today, as technological shifts from generative AI to immersive learning environments are forcing every education provider to rethink what learning looks like. Individual organizations often become constrained by their own institutional thinking. Partnerships create opportunities to break through these limitations.

I firmly believe that if you're not willing to adapt to new changes and take risks, you are doomed to fail. This philosophy has driven our innovations like triple-accredited MBA programs, pioneering computer science accreditations for fully online programs, and creative approaches to student engagement that leverage both partners' strengths.

Innovation in educational partnerships often happens at the intersection of academic tradition and market responsiveness. Universities excel at maintaining educational standards and fostering intellectual rigor, while industry partners must contribute agility, technological capabilities, and real-world application perspectives. The magic happens when these strengths combine to create something neither could achieve alone.

For example, addressing the challenge of building community in fully remote programs required thinking beyond traditional approaches. Our solutions included innovative guest speaker series, work-around assessment strategies that accommodate diverse global student schedules, and cohort-building activities that leverage both academic and industry networks.

The key to successful innovation in partnerships is creating safe spaces for experimentation. This means establishing clear processes for testing new approaches, measuring their effectiveness, and scaling successful initiatives. It also requires accepting that not every innovation will succeed and having systems in place to learn from and quickly pivot away from approaches that aren't working. As education continues to evolve rapidly, shared innovation is what keeps partnerships relevant and responsive.

The Compound Effect of Strong Partnerships

When transparency, shared vision, and co-led innovation work together, they create what I call the "compound effect" of partnership success. Transparency builds trust, which enables more ambitious shared vision. Aligned vision creates the confidence to take innovative risks together. And successful innovation reinforces trust and expands the partnership's vision of what's possible.

This dynamic is visible in the recognition that strong partnerships generate. The University of Liverpool's Liverpool Online team won the 2024 Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE), recognizing their outstanding collaborative work that has made a transformative impact on teaching and learning. The University of Essex and University of Liverpool both received Gold rankings in the Times Higher Education Online Learning Rankings 2024. And just this year the University of Liverpool’s Online MBA program was ranked first in the UK and thirteenth in the world in the CEO Magazine MBA rankings.

These awards don't just recognize individual achievement, they validate the partnership approach itself. They demonstrate that when academic excellence meets industry expertise, the result is educational innovation that serves students better than either partner could achieve alone.

Building Your Own Partnership Strategy

For organizations considering educational partnerships, the question isn't whether to partner, but how to partner effectively. The most successful approaches I've observed share several characteristics:

Start with relationship building before contract negotiation. Invest time in understanding potential partners' cultures, values, and long-term objectives. The best partnerships feel less like vendor relationships and more like strategic alliances between mission-aligned organizations.

Create structured opportunities for regular partnership evaluation. Schedule periodic reviews that go beyond operational metrics to assess relationship health, strategic alignment, and opportunities for deeper collaboration.

Establish clear communication protocols that emphasize transparency. Create channels for both positive updates and early warning systems for potential challenges. The goal is to address issues while they're still manageable rather than waiting until they become partnership-threatening.

Design partnership agreements that accommodate evolution. The most successful partnerships I've seen include mechanisms for adapting to changing circumstances, scaling successful initiatives, and incorporating new opportunities that emerge over time.

The Future of Educational Partnerships

We’re in an era where change is not just constant, but exponential. Student demographics are shifting. Employer expectations are evolving. Emerging technologies like GenAI are redefining how learning is created, consumed and credentialed. And students increasingly expect educational experiences that combine academic rigor with practical relevance, global accessibility with personalized support, and traditional credentials with innovative delivery methods.

No single organization can or should deliver on all these expectations alone. But through the right partnerships — grounded in transparency, united in vision, and empowered by innovation — universities can move faster, reach further, and deliver better outcomes for their students. 

The success of programs like the University of Liverpool's online MBA demonstrates what's possible when partnerships are built on these principles. The future of learning will belong to those who partner well.

Nicola Pittman is Managing Director of Kaplan Open Learning, where she leads partnerships with world-class universities to deliver innovative online education programs.

For more insights on educational partnerships and online learning innovation, explore our other thought leadership pieces on the evolving landscape of corporate education and workforce development.