Career Education Report

The National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) has been the standard for nursing licensure for more than 40 years. So why would the nursing world need another credential? Dr. Tim Cunningham, Vice President of Business Development at the Professional Nursing Validation Company, joins host Jason Altmire to explain where the Professionally Validated Nurse (PVN) certification fits into nursing education. 

The credential is meant to address a decades-long “professional identity crisis” in the field of nursing. It allows individual nurses to distinguish themselves by demonstrating competency across all 10 essential domains of nursing and to build confidence in their own expertise.

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How should student outcomes like earnings, debt, and job placement factor into program accreditation? WASC Senior College and University Commission President & CEO Maria Toyoda and National Accreditation Commission Founder & President Rebecca Busacca join host Jason Altmire to discuss how accreditation is evolving to cover programs outside the traditional four-year mold, including the short-term, non-credit, and non-degree programs seeking eligibility for Workforce Pell. 

They explain why outcomes should be measured across several dimensions rather than earnings alone, push back on the myth that accreditors focus only on inputs, and make the case that local labor market data is key to ensuring programs prepare students for today's workforce.

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Employers can't find workers, graduates can't find jobs, and too many students leave high school without a plan. Guilford County Schools Superintendent Dr. Whitney Oakley tells host Jason Altmire how the “Guilford Guarantee” aims to close that gap with a promise to its more than 66,000 students: every graduate leaves with college credit, an industry credential or meaningful work experience in addition to their high school diploma.

Dr. Oakley offers a practical look at how K-12, postsecondary institutions and employers can share responsibility for economic mobility and a stronger workforce pipeline.

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Former Chicago mayor, ambassador to Japan, and White House Chief of Staff during the Obama administration, Rahm Emanuel has spent decades working at all levels of political office. He has made waves with his aggressive and innovative approach, challenging the status quo and pushing for reforms, especially in education policy. Now, he might be considering an even bigger role — presidential candidate. 

In this episode, Emanuel joins Jason Altmire to talk through what change in America’s education system actually looks like, including expanding access to higher ed, improving student outcomes, and confronting the shortage of skilled tradespeople.  

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The U.S. Department of Labor wants to add more than 300,000 registered apprenticeship positions nationwide, part of a bigger push to expand this kind of on-the-job learning. So how should employers, and the schools that support them, actually get started?

Today’s guest is Jessica Desmond, the Regional Director of Career Services and Apprenticeships at ECPI University. Desmond tells host Jason Altmire how ECPI partners with employers to design registered apprenticeship programs across more than 1,000 approved occupations, beyond just the skilled trades that have been traditionally associated with apprenticeships. Fields like advanced manufacturing, IT, cybersecurity and software development are all in the mix. She explains how strategic apprenticeships can help students get placed in the field, while employers have the opportunity to train a pipeline of loyal, skilled workers.

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After more than a decade in the U.S. Department of Labor, workforce development expert and the CEO/Founder of JOBS THAT WORK Solutions, Nick Beadle, has seen firsthand how billions of dollars in workforce funding gets allocated, and why those dollars don’t always reach the people it’s meant to help.

Beadle tells host Jason Altmire about what he calls a "relatability gap" between policymakers and the workers and providers they're meant to serve. He unpacks the stigma surrounding skilled trades, what employers still misunderstand about apprenticeships, and how career ed providers can better position themselves for the funding landscape ahead.

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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.