This summer brought no rest for college leaders. With the Trump Administration’s continuing push to reshape the college world, plus lots of announcements in Artificial Intelligence, there are many higher ed headlines to recap. So Jeff and Michael kick off season 9 with their take on the most important developments of the past couple of months. That includes Columbia University’s unprecedented settlement with the federal government, a new executive order on college admissions, and college trustees pushing for action on AI. And they unveil a new ‘speed round’ segment. This episode is made with support from Ascendium Education Group.

The Elite University Presidents Who Despise One Another: Inside the civil war between the Ivy League and the South in The Atlantic

Great Expectations, Fragile Foundations in On EdTech

1:36 - Our Summer Recap

4:09 - Behind the Scenes of Jeff’s Book Launch

8:10 - Meet the Future U Production Team

12:18 - Columbia University Settlement

21:00 - Trump’s Executive Order on Admissions

30:00 - What College Business Officers Are Talking About

34:15 - One Big Beautiful Bill’s Impact

39:30 - New ‘Lightning Round’ Segment

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Dream School: Finding the College That's Right for You

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Jeff and Michael are joined by Mushtaq Gunja, Executive Director of the Carnegie Classification Systems and Senior Vice President at ACE, to unpack the sweeping changes to the Carnegie Classifications. They explore how the new system aims to better group institutions, highlight student access and earnings, and shift incentives across funding, accountability, and rankings. The conversation dives into the implications for colleges chasing R1 status, the normative power of classifications, and whether these changes will meaningfully alter institutional behavior or simply create a new hierarchy. This episode is made with support from Ascendium Education Group and the Gates Foundation.

2025 Institutional Classifications, Carnegie Classifications of Institutions of Higher Education

2025 Research Activity Designations, Carnegie Classifications of Institutions of Higher Education

0:00 - Intro

05:50 - The Changing Higher Ed Landscape

08:06 - The Impact of the New Classifications

10:42 - Anticipating the Normative Effects

16:55 - New Funding Criteria

18:13 - Shifting to a Focus on Outcomes

21:17 - Measuring Access and Earnings

24:53 - Encouraging Good Use of the New Classifications

34:24 - Considering the Impact on Research Dollars

40:28 - Institutional Response to Access and Earnings Designations

46:30 - What This Means for Rankings

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The U.S. has a lot to learn when it comes to systematizing apprenticeship. Thankfully, there are successful international models, like Switzerland’s, that we can study. Katie Caves, the Director at Switzerland’s Center on the Economics and Management of Education and Training Systems, joins the podcast to discuss the Swiss model and what can be gleaned from it. They discuss its permeability between academic and vocational tracks, proving its value to employers, the prestige of Swiss apprenticeships, and the principles that hold across borders. This episode is made with support from Ascendium Education Group

Return on investment of apprenticeship systems for enterprises: Evidence from cost-benefit analyses

by Samuel Muehlemann & Stefan C Wolter

0:00 - Intro

3:35 - Swiss Apprenticeship 101

6:56 - Path Selection and Funding

13:46 - The Status of Apprenticeship in Switzerland

18:58 - Borrowing Across Borders

25:15 - The ROI to Employers

29:47 - Evaluating Indiana’s Apprenticeship Model

33:45 - Imbuing Prestige in American Apprenticeship

38:49 - Striking the Balance

43:01 - The Influence of Accountability

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