As public support belief in the value of higher education has steadily declined in recent years, most of the attention for turning that around has been on improving the career readiness of graduates and making college more affordable.

But an emergent group of college leaders believes the real key may be to ensure that all learners, regardless of background, have experiences in college that help them develop identity, agency and purpose with the goal of improving their well-being 30 years down the road.

This episode of The Key features a conversation with Richard K. Miller, president emeritus of Olin College of Engineering and a driving force behind the Coalition for Life Transformative Education. In our interview, he discusses how the coalition’s diverse group of members are using data-informed experiments to rework their curriculums and scale the use of project-based experiences to build a sense of belonging and a growth mindset for all of their students.