Future U Podcast &#8211; The Pulse of Higher Ed

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Athletics Departments Have Become ‘Shadow Universities’ Jun 03, 2026

Show notes

The college athletics arms race has created a complex financing puzzle for many institutions. That has led athletics departments to become a kind of ‘shadow university’ within their campuses, with their own systems and processes. And university leaders need to pay closer attention. For this episode, Jeff and Michael talk with Karen Weaver, an expert on the finances behind college athletics. Do colleges need a whole new board structure for sports?

Chapters

0:00 - Introduction

1:35 - Why All College Leaders Should Care About College Athletics

4:14 - Introducing Our Guest, Karen Weaver

5:12 - What Are University Presidents and Board Members Missing About College Sports?

6:38 - How is the Transfer Portal Impacting Graduation Rates?

8:26 - Do Athletics Align With College Mission Statements?

9:51 - What Washington Should Do to Regulate College Sports

11:50 - What If College Sports Lost Tax-Exempt Status?

13:23 - How Women’s Sports and Olympic Sports Fit In?

16:20 - Do NCAA Classifications Work Anymore?

20:22 - Who Defines Success for College Sports?

20:53 - Is Athletics Worth It As a ‘Front Porch’ of the College?

22:08 - How Should College Athletics Be Reformed?

25:36 - The Growth of Club Sports

29:18 - Do We Know the ROI of College Athletics?

34:00 - Getting Beyond Football and Basketball

37:05 - Connecting Athletics to Work-Integrated Learning

40:05 - Why Are People ‘All In’ on College Athletics

40:59 - How Injuries Play a Role

42:48 - The Connection Between Research and Athletic Prestige

45:07 - Is a Whole New Governance Structure Needed for Athletics?

46:05 - Lightning Round with Karen Weaver

Relevant Links:

“Four quick thoughts on the Protect College Sports Act: aka a college sports bill you should actually pay attention to,” by Matt Brown in his Extra Points newsletter.

“Sport Finance: Where the Money Comes From and Where the Money Goes,” by Karen Weaver.

“Trustees and Presidents: A Podcast for University Leaders,” by Karen Weaver

“Understanding College Athletics: What Campus Leaders Need to Know About College Sports,” by Karen Weaver

“The Future of Elite Youth Sports Is Here—and It’s a Mess,” in The Wall Street Journal.

“Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World,” by David Epstein.

Higher Ed 101: Inside the Process of Closing a College May 19, 2026

Show notes

Closing down a college turns out to be a big job. For this episode, Jeff and Michael talk with a specialist on the complex and emotional process, Doug Moore. He shares all the things that college presidents and trustees should know—as well as surprising moments as he has helped colleges navigate finances, lawsuits, community impact, teach-outs, and more. And he explains why he sees signs of hundreds of college closures on the horizon.

Relevant Links

“The Looming College-Enrollment Death Spiral,” by Jeff Selingo in The Atlantic.

“History auctioned as Iowa Wesleyan closes its doors,” in Homegrown Iowan.

Chapters

0:00 - Intro

1:04 - The Surprising Complexity of Closing a College

3:00 - How a ‘College Closure’ Found that Profession

5:17 - How Do Colleges Find a Closer?

9:00 - Walking Through the Early Phases of Closing a Campus

14:53 - What Happens After the Final Graduation Ceremony?

18:55 - ‘Community Freebie Days’

22:33 - What’s The Most Surprising Thing a Closing Campus Had to Auction Off?

26:12 - Warning Signs That a College Might Fail

28:19 - Why College Sports Can Shutter Colleges

30:26 - 400 Colleges Could Fail in the Next 10 Years

32:11 - 20 or 30 Colleges Could Close This Year

33:18 - Why Don’t More Colleges Merge?

35:00 - Is Anyone Buying Closed Colleges?

38:33 - The Emotional Toll of Closing a College

42:06 - Sponsor Break

42:35 - Did Higher Ed Build Too Many Colleges?

49:28 - What Is Emotionally Lost When Colleges Disappear?

51:43 - What Will Happen to All These Closed Campus Facilities?

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The College Where Funding Follows Students’ Earnings, Not Enrollment May 05, 2026

Show notes

Most public colleges get state funding based on “seat time,” — how many students are sitting through classes. Over a decade ago, leaders at Texas State Technical College bet on an experimental funding model that ties state support to the employment outcomes of their graduates. For this episode, we hear from the architect of the unusual approach, Michael Bettersworth, the college’s vice chancellor and chief marketing officer. And Jeff and Michael explore the lessons that all types of colleges can take from rethinking funding models to better match their missions. This episode is made with support from Ascendium Education Group.

Chapters

0:00 - Introduction

3:49 - A College That Only Gets Paid When Students Get Jobs

6:42 - How the Unusual Funding Model Started

9:49 - How Has the Funding Model Gone?

12:05 - Voters Approve Endowment for a Technical College

13:20 - A Quest to Better Map Skills Colleges Teach to Jobs

18:52 - The Importance of ‘Occupational Identity’

21:17 - Should Other Types of Colleges Try This Funding Model?

23:40 - How Much Should Colleges Be Responsible For Student Employment Outcomes?

25:43 - How Is AI Changing the Conversation About Skills?

29:01 - Creating Incentives to Map Teaching to Jobs

31:20 - How Can We Know What Skills Are Actually Needed in Certain Jobs?

34:41 - Funding Models Should Match College Missions

39:58 - Lightning Round with Michael Bettersworth

Relevant Links

“If—” by Rudyard Kipling

“Inventing a Job-Skills Machine,” by Rebecca Koenig in EdSurge

“Taxonomies of Human Performance,” by Edwin A. Fleishman.

“Marc Andreessen says AI layoffs are a farce: Companies are 75% overstaffed, and AI is the ‘silver bullet excuse’ to clean house,” in Fortune.

Cutting Degrees That Don’t Add Value Apr 21, 2026

Show notes

There’s a growing movement to make sure colleges offer ‘degrees of value,’ meaning that offerings lead to higher-paying jobs for graduates than if they hadn’t gone to college. Jeff and Michael talk to a key proponent of the idea, Harrison Keller, the president of the University of North Texas and former Commissioner of Higher Education in Texas. He talks about his experiments to redesign colleges to better match their offerings to the needs of the labor market. This episode is made with support from Ascendium Education Group.

Relevant Links

“Building a Talent Strong Texas,” strategic plan from Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

“University launches regional partnership for Texas Talent Accelerator to meet industry demands,” in the North Texas Daily.

“University of North Texas to cut more than 70 programs and minors to trim $45 million deficit,” in the Texas Tribune.“

Syracuse Drops 84 Majors Including Classics, Ceramics and Italian,” in The New York Times (gift link).

Chapters

0:00 - Introduction

1:30 - A President Trying to Align Degrees to the Labor Market

3:43 - The Elevator Pitch for Ensuring ‘Credentials of Value’

5:50 - Creating a ‘Hub’ to Analyze Fast-Changing Employment Landscape

9:04 - Is There a Danger of Training Students for Dying Jobs?

12:11 - What Programs at UNT Aren’t Working?

14:14 - What About Majors With Social Value That Don’t Pay Much?

17:21 - How Do State Funding Formulas Need to Change?

20:06 - How Do Universities Need to Change Their Structures?

23:32 - What Should Universities Do to Respond to AI?

28:07 - Sponsor Break

28:46 - Colleges Need to Do More to Connect Liberal Arts to Job Skills

33:14 - The Case for a More-Detailed Mapping of Liberal Arts Skills to Work

41:56 - A Move to Shorter Degree Offerings in Some Fields

45:33 - Eliminating Programs With Low Demand

50:40 - Lightning Round with Harrison Keller

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