Since the advent of YouTube over 20 years ago, children have dreamed of skyrocketing to stardom simply by uploading videos of their lives and hobbies. The rise of TikTok over the past decade has further fueled young people’s aspirations of becoming a social media influencer, especially as creators tout brand deals worth thousands of dollars and high payouts from the app’s Creator Rewards Program, which pays them per view on qualified videos.

In recent years, surveys have found that 57 percent of Gen Zers said they would like to become an influencer if given the chance, while 12 percent actively aspire to become influencers. But few institutions of higher education have attempted to capitalize on that demand.

Syracuse University’s new Center for the Creator Economy aims to fill that gap. The center, which will officially launch this spring, will develop upward of 12 courses related to content creation, from technical skills to how to build a brand; by fall 2026, the center will offer a full-fledged content creation minor. It will also be home to a content creation makerspace, currently under construction, where Syracuse students can utilize high-quality cameras, green screens, podcasting booths and more.

Mike Haynie, Syracuse’s vice chancellor for strategic initiatives and innovation and an entrepreneurship professor, conceived of the center after a number of students came to him with business ideas related to content creation.

“It was something that was a little new to me, honestly. It forced me to start doing some research and asking some questions, and I was really astonished by the growth of this space, particularly over the last five to seven years,” he said, noting that the influencer industry is projected to grow into a half-trillion-dollar market within the next several years. “Candidly, I was a little bit surprised that, as I looked across the higher education landscape, there really hadn’t been a university that had … really jumped into this space.”

In developing the center, Haynie reached out to current Syracuse students who are already successful content creators to better understand how they began their social media careers and what challenges they faced in their work.

“They certainly didn’t understand the back-end business of what they were building,” he said. “How to monetize, how to build brand partnerships. I think a lot of that can absolutely be taught.”

He noted that the program will expose students to parts of the industry outside of being on-screen talent, such as working as a manager or behind the scenes as a video editor.

Jess Hunichen, co-founder of Shine Talent Group, a management agency for creators, said she sees the business end of the job as one of the hardest for creators to grasp—especially when they are young people who have, in many cases, never held another job.

The curriculum would be most useful if it encompassed topics like “finances, what to look for in a manager, what do taxes look like in this?” she said. “You’re a sole proprietor now, potentially, or maybe you’re starting an LLC. Are you starting an S-corp? Are you starting a C-corp? Understanding the business setup, I think, is so valuable to all of us. None of us were taught enough of that in school, if you ask me.”

Courses in marketing and public relations, including how to build a media kit or pitch yourself to brands you might be interested in working with, would also be useful to up-and-coming influencers, she said. She added that she hopes higher education content creation courses teach students how to protect their mental well-being in the face of online bullying and hate.

At the same time, Hunichen noted, the field of content creation is unique in ways that might make it difficult to teach in school. For one, it’s a rapidly changing field, and, although TikTok and Instagram currently reign supreme, there may be an entirely new platform by the time a student studying content creation graduates. It’s also the rare field where students may be already working while they’re still in college.

Despite these potential hurdles, Hunichen said it’s heartening to see academe taking the creator economy seriously.

“For years, we saw articles like, ‘Influencer marketing has had its day, it’s on its way out, the bubble is bursting,’” she said. “It’s nice to see that, again, this means this isn’t going away. This is to be taken seriously—this is a genuine, valuable, reasonable job to pursue.”

Other Certifications

Although Syracuse’s center, which launched this fall, is the first of its kind, colleges and universities have seen the value in calling on social media influencers for years. The vast majority of institutions now run their own social media accounts, hopping on popular trends in the hopes that their videos will go viral. Sometimes they hire tech-savvy students to produce content.

Some colleges have partnered with internet-famous students to promote their institution, whether through dorm tours or day-in-the-life videos, on the students’ own channels.

A small number of institutions have launched social media content creation certifications, including James Madison University and SUNY Plattsburgh, both of which launched this fall. JMU’s program, which was created by alumna Jaeda Skye, CEO of Jaeda Skye Media, is asynchronous and available to both current JMU students and nonstudents. It can be completed in a weekend, Skye said in an interview, and is targeted not only to individuals who want to become influencers but also those who might want to promote their own small business or work in social media for a brand.

Skye’s curriculum covers a range of business and technical skills, as well as how to come across confidently on camera.

“There’s a whole section on terminology; when I first started in the content creation world, I sort of fell into it … and there were all these terms, especially in contracts, that I just had no idea what they meant,” she said.

To earn the certificate at SUNY Plattsburgh, students must complete four courses—a combination of two required marketing courses and two courses from a list of electives, including classes on subjects like design and media production.

Laurent Josien, the chair of marketing and entrepreneurship at the university, said the program was designed to attract new students seeking short-term credentials.

“What we thought was that, in this world where everybody wants to be the next Mr. Beast … what could we do to help?” he said.

He acknowledged that many people who become successful content creators stumble into the field—many find success literally overnight when a viral video takes off—rather than set out to get a credential in content creation.

“We can’t teach” that viral success, he said. “However, we can give what I would call basic business principles that may highlight and make people understand what’s really happening … There are things that you can do in marketing that can have much better results because you know where to advertise. You know where your customers are.”