Future U Podcast - The Pulse of Higher Ed

Latest Episodes:

A Midwest Merger: How Two Ohio Colleges Are Coming Together Feb 25, 2025

Show notes

Mergers aren’t easy. They demand careful analysis, difficult decisions, and tricky stakeholder management. But they are becoming increasingly necessary as dropping enrollments make going it alone less viable for more and more institutions. So, Michael and Jeff sat down with the presidents of two colleges in Ohio that are in the process of merging and the consultant that helped guide them through it to learn more about how to do so successfully. They discuss how to find the right partner, navigate federal approval processes, and manage the emotional elements. This episode is made with support from Ascendium Education Group and The Gates Foundation.

Links We Mention

Strategic Mergers in Higher Education by Ricardo Azziz et al.

Chapters

0:00 - Introduction

01:32 - Future U’s Coverage of M&A

03:26 - A Merger in Northwest Ohio

04:44 - Pursuing a Partnership

08:29 - Finding the Right Fit

10:45 - The Challenging Federal Approval Process

16:21 - Managing Stakeholder Communications

22:09 - Lessons Learned

27:04 - The Leadership Characteristics Required

30:46 - The Timeline of Mergers

39:03 - Managing the Emotional Element

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Accepted without Applying: The Growth of Direct Admissions Feb 12, 2025

Show notes

This year, thousands of students will be accepted to colleges without ever submitting a formal application. That’s because more and more schools are automatically accepting students who meet preset performance thresholds through direct admissions programs. To learn more about this growing trend, Michael and Jeff welcome Luke Skurman who is CEO of Niche.com, one of the nation’s largest direct admissions platforms. They discuss the benefits and risks of this innovation and dig into how it changes the dynamics between schools and students. Michael and Jeff then envision the variety of changes required in the college admissions process. This episode is made with support from Ascendium Education Group, the Gates Foundation, and the American College of Education.

Chapters

0:00 Intro
02:26 - The Backstory on Direct Admissions
06:35 - How Niche Direct Admissions Works
09:09 - The Benefit to Students and Institutions
11:29 - Another Application Count Booster?
14:25 - Obstacle or Litmus Test?
15:56 - Changing Dynamics
19:40 - The Competitive Landscape
20:41 - What’s Next?
25:38 - The Three Parts of Admissions
30:23 - Weighing the Pros and Cons of Direct Admissions
36:26 - Reimagining the College Admissions Process

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The Lost Boys of Higher Ed Feb 04, 2025

Show notes

Women have outnumbered men on college campuses for decades, but the divergence in postsecondary success has widened in recent years, and it is both a cause and symptom of the struggles of the modern man. Richard Reeves, author of Of Boys and Men joins the podcast to discuss the drivers of these challenges, promising interventions, and whether we should care about the plight of men in a world where they continue to wield power. This episode is made with support from the Gates Foundation, Ascendium Education Group, and The American College of Education.

Links We Share

Of Boys and Men:Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What To Do About It

by Richard Reeves

https://www.menincollege.com

American Institute for Boys and Men

Chapters

00:00 - Intro

04:15 - Where We Are (and Aren't) Seeing the Gender Divide

05:56 - Designing College with The Modern Young Man in Mind

12:28 - Drivers of the Higher Ed Gender Divide

16:30 - The Effects of the Pandemic

19:41 - The Larger Significance of the Problem

26:50 - Opting Out of Adulting

31:52 - Masculinity and Majors

34:22 - K12 Solutions: Nobody's Fault, Everyone's Responsibility

37:32 - What Higher Ed Can Do

41:47 - International Parallels

44:38 - Rebalancing Education Systems

49:06 - Zero-Sum Game or Growing the Pie?

Submit a question and if we answer it on air we'll send you Future U. swag!

A New Era for Higher Ed? Jan 28, 2025

Show notes

At the turn of the new year, Jeff and Michael dive into the predictions and trends set to shape the landscape of higher education in 2025. They discuss how this may be a year of reckoning for colleges and where changes will be required to make long-needed improvements. They dig in on infrastructure adjustments, reimagined degree programs, and what appears to be a new ultimatum for many struggling colleges: partner or perish. This episode made with support from The American College of Education, The Gates Foundation, and Ascendium Education Group.

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“Which Colleges Always Lose Money?” by Robert Kelchen

“Where the Grass Is Greener” by Robert Shaw, Harvard Magazine

Chapters

0:00 - Intro
01:49 - A Year of Reckoning for Higher Ed
09:57 - The Changes Needed
16:51 - Quick Hits: Athletes as Employees, Hostile Competition, and More
26:37 - Expanding Research Outside of Academia
30:58 - Shortening Degree Programs

Making "Job Moves" Jan 14, 2025

Show notes

On this episode, Jeff sits down with one of the authors of Job Moves: 9 Steps To Making Progress in Your Career, Future U.’s very own Michael B. Horn. The two discuss the lessons that the book, which offers research-based guidance to individuals searching for new work, holds for students and the colleges that serve them. They then dive into discussing a topic they each get a lot of questions about: what it’s like to write a book. This episode made with support from The American College of Education, The Gates Foundation, and Ascendium Education Group.

Links We Mention

Job Moves: 9 Steps for Making Progress in Your Career

Career and Technical Education for All by Michael B. Horn and Daniel Curtis, Education Next

Chapters

0:00 - Intro
02:40 - Job Moves in a Nutshell
04:02 - How Job Moves Applies to Colleges
07:17 - Balancing Skills Development Against Credentials
09:26 - Helping Students Make More Informed Choices
16:16 - Next Steps for Higher Ed
22:43 - Michael's Process for Writing a Book
26:55 - Making the Time to Write
29:53 - Planner or Plunger?
32:36 - Working with a Publisher
35:49 - The Hard Part that No One Talks About
38:32 - Where to Find More on Job Moves

The Resiliency of Remedial Education Jan 07, 2025

Show notes

More than a decade ago, a wave of research pointing to the inefficacy of remedial education was followed by a massive investment in rethinking how we prepare students who need extra support to access college. So why, after all that, does remedial ed still play such a big role on college campuses today? To help us tackle that question, we’re joined by Anne Kim, FutureEd Senior Fellow and author of a recent report on the remedial education reform movement. She discusses the history of remedial education in America and what it will take to move reform forward. Then, Jeff fields some provocative questions from Michael about who should go to college and how we can align incentives so no one profits off of unprepared students. This episode is made with support from the Gates Foundation.

Links We Share

Incomplete: The Unfinished Revolution in College Remedial Education by Anne Kim, FutureEd

Student Success 2.0, Future U.

The New Student Ready College, Future U

Chapters

0:00 - Intro
02:49 - Remedial Education in Context
07:26 - Calls for Change
11:29 - A Wave of Reform
14:53 - Progress Stalls
16:59 - Recommendations for a Reform Rebound
19:33 - Responding to Criticisms of Remedial Ed
24:58 - A New System with More Options
31:00 - Correcting a Broken Business Model

Chips and Higher Ed: What the Federal Investment Means for Colleges Dec 10, 2024

Show notes

What does a community college in Idaho have to do with mounting economic tensions between the U.S. and China? A lot, actually.

On this episode of Future U., Michael and Jeff dive into what the CHIPS and Science Act—the federal spending package designed to reduce the United States’ reliance on foreign manufacturers for microchips and other advanced technologies—means for a segment of American postsecondary institutions that’s often forgotten in these conversations: community colleges. They talk with nonprofit and government leaders about how the CHIPS supports the education and training of a high tech workforce. They then go deep with the team at the College of Western Idaho to get a view of how they are developing these programs in collaboration with their corporate partner, Micron. This episode is sponsored by Ascendium Education Group.

Developing a Tech Mindset at the Leadership Table Nov 26, 2024

Show notes

Technology is an increasingly important element of everything that colleges do, yet it remains a distinct and separate function at too many schools. Jeff visited the Educause Conference, focused on tech in higher ed, to chat with college leaders about how they are leveraging IT on their campuses. They discuss best practices in bridging the tech-academic divide, the role of data in decision making, how IT departments can support efforts to improve the value proposition of higher ed, and more. This episode is made with support from Ascendium Education Group and the Gates Foundation.

Chapters

0:00 - Intro

5:49 - IT Then and Now

9:02 - The Disconnect Between Tech and Academic Teams

11:56 - Using Data Strategically

16:01 - Data-Driven v. Data-Informed Decision Making

24:02 - Public-Private Partnerships

31:50 - Communicating Across the Tech and Academic Sides

34:57 - Getting Started in Online Education

37:16 - Improving Perceptions of Higher Ed

42:31 - The Future of Tech in Higher Ed

How One Regional University Is Growing Nov 19, 2024

Show notes

Regional public universities have been hit harder than most colleges by recent enrollment decreases. On this episode, Michael and Jeff sit down with President Jonathan Koppell of Montclair State University, a regional that has bucked this trend, to learn more about their success. They dig in on lessons Koppell learned as a dean at ASU, the college’s programs for underserved students, and how the college is competing for students. This episode is made with support from Ascendium Education Group and the Gates Foundation.

Links We Share

Beating the Odds, Bain & Co.

Chapters

00:00 - Intro
03:52 - Lessons Learned at ASU
06:52 - Attracting Students to Montclair
12:36 -Supporting Post-Secondary Attainment for Men
18:25 -How Colleges Can Win Back Engagement
24:33 -The Steps to Culture Change
27:40 - How to Fix the College President Job
32:06 - Addressing the Talk by Walking the Walk
33:58 - Aiming Above the Line
37:50 - Shifting Towards User-Centered Language
39:34 - Building Infrastructure around Differentiation
41:02 - Data and Innovation to Support Men in Higher Ed
45:49 - Providing Students with What They Need
48:53 - Coalescing Around the “Why”

The New Student-Ready College Nov 12, 2024

Show notes

While college-going rates have increased over recent decades, completion rates have hardly budged. On this episode, Michael and Jeff sit down with one entrepreneur working to change that. Mike Larsson is the co-founder and CEO of Duet, an organization collaborating with an online university to provide on-the-ground coaching and physical space for students. They discuss the role wraparound supports play in supporting more students towards graduation, the keys to reengaging students who have stopped out, the nationwide spread of hybrid models like Duet’s, and more. This episode is made with support from Ascendium Education Philanthropy and the Gates Foundation.

Links We Share

College Reimagined by Jon Gabrieli et al.

Chapters

0:00 - Intro
02:12 - The Founding Story of Duet
08:53 - Reaching Students with “Some College No Degree”
11:23 - A Personal Trainer for College
13:17 - Duet’s Outcomes
17:07 - “The Hard Policy Answer”
21:00 - The Growth of Hybrid College
24:39 - Affordability, Flexibility, and Disruption
29:46 - Leveraging Public-Private Partnerships to Better Serve Adult Learners
33:26 - Improving the Outcomes of Community Colleges