More than three years into the generative A.I. boom, higher education leaders are still asking the same question: how do we use this responsibly? Today's guest says it's time to shift from experimentation to practical implementation, and he revisits his own 2026 A.I. predictions to see how they're holding up.

Cengage EVP & Chief Digital Officer, Darren Person, tells host Jason Altmire that A.I. for its own sake won't improve learning, measurable outcomes will. Person explains how human-in-the-loop tutoring tools are reshaping teaching, why he's skeptical of "AI can do everything" claims, and what schools should look for when vetting A.I. vendors.

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America's healthcare shortages across nursing and allied health roles are reaching a critical point, with a projected shortage of nearly three million workers across all healthcare roles in just the next few years. Today’s guest, Tess Michaels, the founder and CEO of Clasp, joins host Jason Altmire to discuss how her organization is working to address those shortages through scholarships and employer partnerships. 

Clasp connects employers and students by offering tuition repayment benefits in exchange for a commitment to work for that employer after graduation, reducing turnover and recruitment costs for businesses while lowering the financial risk of training for high-earning healthcare fields. Jason and Tess also discuss how new federal student loan caps may threaten access to advanced healthcare degrees.

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Billions of dollars in AI investment are reshaping the American economy, and the workers who will physically build that future aren't coming out of four-year universities. They're being trained at career schools like Midwest Technical Institute, where Founder and CEO Brian Huff has spent decades preparing skilled tradespeople for the jobs that keep the country running. 

But cultural bias against the trades is holding back the pipeline of talent America urgently needs. Huff joins host Jason Altmire to make the case that hands-on careers deserve the same respect as traditional degrees and explains what higher ed leaders can do right now to change that. 

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While students and employers both wrangle with the best ways to use artificial intelligence in an evolving workforce, career colleges are well positioned to leverage the technology to better prepare students for today’s labor market and streamline how the colleges themselves operate. 

Today’s guest is Lauri Kien Kotcher, the CEO & Co-founder of Different Day. Lauri tells host Jason Altmire that AI tools can be critical in providing timely replies to student inquiries, streamlining transcript processing and offering personalized communication to keep students engaged and interested in events on campus. She says these tools can even make inroads on reducing student attrition and become a key strategy for creating and cultivating the next generation of career education professionals.

A masonry instructor in rural North Carolina pulled a quiet freshman aside and told him he saw something special in him. That student went on to earn two master’s degrees and eventually became Executive Director of the National Technical Honor Society. Peyton Holland knows what the right mentor at the right moment can do to help a student and he's dedicated his career to replicating it.

He joins host Jason Altmire to discuss how NTHS goes beyond recognition to give CTE students real leadership experience, flexible scholarships, and a community that connects programs across every discipline. Peyton says these opportunities allow students to take responsibility for more than just their grades; they are able to take early ownership over their work and become the leaders that employers want to hire. 

New findings from the National Bureau of Economic Research find strong relationships between America's community colleges and local labor markets, but what does that mean for higher education? Josh Goodman, Associate Professor of Education and Economics at Boston University and co-author of the report joins host Jason Altmire to discuss how strong labor markets drive down demand for education as people are incentivized to enter the workforce rather than pursue a degree. 

On the other hand, a weaker labor market sees a significant increase in community college enrollment as people want a next step even if they can’t find employment. Because colleges play a key role during difficult economic times, Josh argues that policymakers should rethink how they fund post-secondary education in order to support a vital tool for rebuilding America's economy.

To learn more about Career Education Colleges & Universities, visit our website.

Last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act set into law a new framework for holding higher education responsible for graduates’ earnings. While the framework is set to roll out soon, today’s guests say the guidelines are a flawed “one size fits all” approach that’s too broad for America’s cosmetology sector.

Today’s guests are Brenda Scharman, owner of Cameo College of Essential Beauty; Lynelle Lynch, CEO and owner of Bellus Academy; and Ryan Claybaugh, Vice President of Operations for Paul Mitchell Advanced Education. They tell host Jason Altmire the proposed framework pits a workforce of young, high school graduates against workers with advanced postsecondary education and perpetuates gender inequities by comparing an industry with a large number of part-time workers and more than 90% women to wealthier, male-dominated fields.

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With nearly 200,000 registered nursing job openings annually, the U.S. nursing shortage is reaching a critical point. On this episode of Career Education Report, host Jason Altmire speaks with Susan Mayer, Chief Learning Officer of Achieving the Dream, which supports over 300 community colleges to create opportunities and remove barriers to learning. Mayer explains how innovations like part-time programs, simulation technology, and credit for prior learning can help colleges expand the capacity of their nursing programs and bring more learners, including CNAs and LPNs already in the workforce, onto an RN pathway. She argues that solving the shortage requires community colleges to rethink not just how they teach, but who they're designing their programs for.

To learn more about Career Education Colleges & Universities, visit our website.

Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping the workforce, while career and technical education is evolving alongside it. As employers integrate AI into more industries, educators are exploring how to prepare students for jobs that increasingly rely on these technologies.

In this episode, host Jason Altmire speaks with Michael Connet, Associate Deputy Executive Director of the Association for Career and Technical Education and Shawn Freie, Workforce Development Coordinator of the Canadian Valley Technology Center. They discuss why hands-on experience with AI tools is becoming important for students entering technical fields and why maintaining a human-centered approach will remain essential as these technologies continue to develop.

To learn more about Career Education Colleges & Universities, visit our website.

For perhaps the first time in American history, the United States is facing the prospect of a decline in its working age population. As various trades and health care industries face mass worker shortages and artificial intelligence disrupts some entry-level job fields, how can employers and workers thrive? 

Today’s guest, Burning Glass Institute Chief Economist Gad Levanon, tells host Jason Altmire about the importance of both improving wages for in-demand professions like registered nurses and breaking down longstanding barriers to women in highly male-dominated professions like truck driving. Levanon also says it’s vital to embrace new tools like artificial intelligence, saying that these tools are here to stay and can ultimately help employers and industries innovate.

To learn more about Career Education Colleges & Universities, visit our website.