You may not have heard much about higher education in the presidential campaign, but it’s definitely on the ballot.

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Guest: Rick Seltzer, senior writer at The Chronicle of Higher Education

For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters. We aim to make  transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.

Outside consultants are helping cash-strapped colleges cut majors, like foreign languages, that once seemed essential — and are taking the heat for those unpopular decisions.

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Guest: David Jesse, senior writer at The Chronicle of Higher Education

For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters. We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.

As president of the U. of Florida, Ben Sasse, a former U.S. senator, steered millions of dollars toward consultants and hired his Republican allies to serve in lucrative jobs. And he threw some expensive parties.

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Guest: Garrett Shanley, reporter for The Independent Florida Alligator / intern at The Chronicle of Higher Education

For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters.

Would big-name universities pay a magazine to write puff pieces about them? You bet.

Guest: Francie Diep, senior reporter for The Chronicle of Higher Education 

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For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters.

A feud among three professors inspired a debate over woke politics in academe.

Guest: Emma Pettit, senior reporter for The Chronicle of Higher Education

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For more on today's episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters.

The lure of decent-paying jobs available without college degrees has some people rethinking whether college is necessary. The trend has big implications for the workforce, society, and the communities where people live and work.

Guest: Eric Kelderman, senior writer for The Chronicle of Higher Education

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For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters. 

When protests against the Israel-Hamas war swept across college campuses this past spring, student activists were joined in some cases by their professors. That’s what happened at Indiana University, where state police led a particularly aggressive crackdown on demonstrators. The professors’ reasons for participating were varied and complex, but their decisions point toward a thorny and persistent question: Do faculty members have any business joining student protests?

Guest: Kate Hidalgo Bellows, staff reporter at The Chronicle of Higher Education

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For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters.

Where is my financial aid? What is college really going to cost me? These are the kinds of questions lots of students are asking this academic year, and it’s all because of a government screw-up. The disastrous rollout of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid, known as FAFSA, has created uncertainty about students’ financial-aid packages — and many of the most vulnerable are having the hardest time.

Guest: Eric Hoover, senior writer for The Chronicle of Higher Education

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For more, visit chronicle.com/collegematters.

Students are arriving at college woefully unprepared, professors say. Many lack the necessary endurance to read long passages, and some question the point of reading at all. We explore why this is happening, and what can be done about it.

Guest: Beth McMurtrie, senior writer for The Chronicle of Higher Education

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For more, visit chronicle.com/collegematters.

Everything happening in the world converges in one place: higher education. 

College Matters from The Chronicle, coming September 10.