When Marymount Manhattan College’s board of trustees decided last year to merge with Northeastern University, becoming a part of that Boston-based university’s global system, the vote was unanimous. As Jeff and Michael continue their ongoing exploration (some might say obsession) with mergers and acquisitions in higher ed, they talk to one of Marymount Manhattan’s trustees, Abby Fiorella, on this episode to get a board member’s perspective on how mergers can be strategic wins for smaller institutions, as well as key to protecting their core missions. This episode is made with support from Ascendium Education Group.

“God and Man at Yale,” by William F. Buckley.

"The Abundant University: Remaking Higher Education for a Digital World," by Michael Smith,

Mission statement of Arizona State University

Mission statement of Southern New Hampshire University

“Why a University Proactively Sought a Merger," our other episode this season about M&A in higher ed.

0:00 - Why Do We Keep Talking About Mergers?

3:50 - Introducing Our Guest, Abby Fiorella

5:17 - How to Prepare a Board for a Merger

9:19 - Deciding on Institutional Priorities

12:44 - What Is Marymount Manhattan College Doing to Preserve Its Identity?

17:17 - How Can a Board Come to Peace With a Merger?

21:40 - How Can Boards Make Mergers Less Taboo?

24:29 - Reframing Merging As an Opportunity

27:01 - Closing Thoughts From a Trustee

28:54 - Sponsor Break

29:38 - What It Means for a Board to Be Responsible to a Mission

36:21 - How Can Universities Put Mission Statements Into Practice?

38:52 - Why College Mergers Require ‘Courage’

39:21 - Making Time in Board Meetings for Strategic Planning

44:56 - The Role of Communication Between Presidents and Boards in Considering Mergers

47:59 - Why Most Boards Should Set Up Systems to Prepare for an Uncertain Future

48:37 - Lightning Round With Abby Fiorella

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In this special episode recorded live at Adobe’s EduMAX conference, Jeff and Michael explore practical ways to harness AI in higher education to prepare students to be more effective creators. They were joined by a panel of industry and academic experts including Jennifer Sparrow, New York University’s chief academic technology officer; Simon Koh, who has led early career recruiting at Raymond James and KPMG, among other organizations; and Allison Salisbury, founder and CEO of Humanist Venture Studio.

“AI Is Not Just Ending Entry-Level Jobs. It’s the End of the Career Ladder as We Know It,” CNBC“

The Rise of AI Will Make Liberal Arts Degrees Popular Again. Here’s Why,” in Inc magazine.

0:00 - Intro

3:49 - What Is an AI-Ready Graduate?

7:52 - How AI is Changing Early-Career Jobs

11:00 - What Skills and Mindsets Do Students Need?

14:31 - How Colleges Can Increase Experiential Education With Employers

22:19 - What Colleges Do As Employers Pull Back on Internships

28:37 - What is the Purpose of College in an AI World?

34:14 - How the Signaling Power of College Could Change in the AI Era

37:38 - How Students Are Using AI to Create

41:25 - Will AI Bring Resurgence of Liberal Arts?

45:50 - How Creativity is Important Even in the Finance Sector

49:31 - Why AI is More Creative Than Humans

51:40 - What Colleges Can Do in the Next 12 Months

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In this time of uncertainty and pullback of federal support for higher education, is it time for states to step up and play a greater leadership role in helping colleges better serve students? And if so, how? Jeff and Michael debate those questions on this episode. To set the stage, they talk with Ruth Watkins, president of postsecondary education for Strada Education Foundation and a former college president, about Strada’s new State Opportunity Index. A key theme: the state level may be the ideal one to match educational offerings with available jobs, especially as AI reshapes so many industries. This episode is made with support from Strada Education Foundation.

0:00 - Intro

3:40 - How a New Report Measures State Higher Ed Efforts

5:53 - Is This a Time for States to Lead?

8:17 - How to Encourage Competition Among States

10:12 - Which States Lead In Higher Ed ROI

12:52 - Low Tuition Doesn’t Guarantee Good ROI

15:39 - What Can Colleges Do If Job Prospects Are Low in a State?

19:00 - Who Is the Audience for the State Opportunity Index?

21:09 - How Can State Measure Return on Investing in Higher Ed?

23:52 - What Can States Do in Higher Ed to Respond to AI?

26:45 - Sponsor Break

27:55 - Some Context for How States Interact With Federal Higher Ed Support

29:40 - Why Jeff Thinks States and the Feds Aren’t ‘Rowing in the Same Direction’

32:00 - Why Michael Sees More Alignment in State and Federal Efforts

34:15 - Will States Step In to Support Research?

37:07 - Are Some States Doing Better on Work-Based Learning?

40:54 - Colleges Still Aren’t Comfortable in Their Role of Getting Students Jobs

46:29 - New Leadership Opportunity In Human Capital in the AI Era

48:18 - A Better Way to Measure State Investment

51:56 - Lightning Round With Ruth Watkins

2025 Strada State Opportunity Index

Strada Education Foundation 

2025 Grapevine Report

State Higher Education Executive Officers Association

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On the latest stop of Future U.'s campus tour, Michael and Jeff visit Butler University to talk with Butler president Jim Danko and other campus leaders. They explore how, out of a mix of excitement about serving students and fear of potential competitive threats on the horizon, the university built a culture and infrastructure to encourage innovation.

Butler University’s Transformation Lab website.

0:00 - Why We Wanted to Visit Butler University

3:46 - What Butler’s President Said He Would Do When He First Started

7:22 - Some Early Wins In Sparking Innovation

9:16 - The Importance of Time and Patience in College Leadership

13:25 - How Presidents Can Best Work With Trustees to Encourage Innovation

15:46 - How a Business Background Influenced Leading a University

19:37 - Why Did Butler Push for Innovation?

21:11 - Putting a Vision Into Practice

22:50 - The Importance of Wanting to Win

28:01 - A Chief Strategy Officer’s Viewpoint

35:35 - A Faculty Perspective on Innovation

37:04 - The 50-50 Rule of Running the Board of Trustees

38:53 - What Butler Ventures Looks Like Today

47:43 - What Grade Would Butler Give Its Innovation Efforts?

52:00 - Closing Observations

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How can AI be adopted in a way that turns more students into “explorers” rather than “passengers” in their learning? This week we bring you a conversation with the co-author of a book on student disengagement in school, Rebecca Winthrop, who is also researching the impact of AI on education. The episode is by one of Future U’s producers, Jeff Young, from his new podcast, Learning Curve.

0:00 - Intro 

4:19 - When the ‘Student Disengagement Crisis’ Started

7:25 - A Framework for Describing Levels of Student Engagement

15:18 - How AI Is Impacting Student Motivation

19:00 - Why ChatGPT’s ‘Study Mode’ Is Not the Answer

25:05 - Advice for Companies Making AI Tools for Education

29:32 - Tips for Students 

34:42 - A High School Student’s Take on AI 

48:30 - Advice For Teachers on Dealing with AI

51:35 - What Is the Purpose of School in the Age of Generative AI?

“The Disengaged Teen,” 

by Rebecca Winthrop and Jenny Anderson 

“Minnesota high school student weighs the benefits and pitfalls of AI,” 

Minnesota Now

“I’m a High Schooler. AI Is Demolishing My Education,”

The Atlantic

Brookings Global Task Force on AI in Education

website

‘We Have to Really Rethink the Purpose of Education,’

The Ezra Klein Show

“Attention Please: Professors Struggle With Student Disengagement,”

EdSurge

“Playing the Grade Game,”

Bootstraps podcast series

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Parents and prospective students want to know how colleges are responding to the rise of generative AI — and to other recent developments like federal budget cuts to research. On this episode, Jeff and Michael share what they’re both hearing as they visit campuses around the country this fall. And they offer their analysis of what AI could mean for higher education, and whether the time is ripe for new entrants to enter the college landscape. This episode is made with support from Ascendium Education Group.

Should College Get Harder?

Joshua Rothman in The New Yorker

Student Loan Debt Is Strangling Gen X

Oyin Adedoyin in The Wall Street Journal

Charlie Javice sentenced to 7 years in prison for $175M fraud

ABC News

Anthology Declares Bankruptcy, Blackboard to Remain as the Core,

Phil Hill, in OnEdTech

0:00 - Intro

2:23 - What Jeff Is Hearing On His Book Tour for ‘Dream School’

4:25 - Should College Get Harder Because of AI?

7:27 - Why Different Kinds of Colleges Will Be Impacted Differently

10:48 - Startup Universities Are Emerging With an AI Focus

14:25 - Redesigning the College Experience Around Activities and Personal Development

17:39 - Will a New Kind of Expertise Be Required On Campuses?

19:20 - Will Employers Trust Degrees In the AI Era?

24:40 - Sponsor Break

25:35 - How Student Loan Debt Is Impacting Gen X

28:22 - A Republican Effort to Question Consultants That Help Set College Prices

30:15 - Charlie Javice Sentenced In Fraud Case

31:44 - Anthology, Owner of Blackboard LMS, Goes Bankrupt

34:00 - Some Trade Schools Exempted From New Federal Rules

35:00 - Making Changes at Colleges Stick

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Mergers and acquisitions are usually seen as bad things in higher ed. But there’s a growing sense that many colleges could benefit by teaming up, especially as the fiscal cliff means fewer potential students. Jeff and Michael continue to dive into their fascination with M&A by talking to Walter Iwanenko Jr, the president of Gannon University in Erie, Pa., about how and why the institution sought a merger with Ursuline College near Cleveland. This episode is made with support from Ascendium Education Group

“Two North Carolina universities announced a merger. Why some alumni are pushing back,” in USA Today. 

“A Midwest Merger: How Two Ohio Colleges Are Coming Together,” from Future U, season 8.

3:42 - Why Mergers and Acquisitions Are Increasingly Important In HIgher Ed

6:15 - What Led Gannon University to Look for a Merger?

9:30 - What Gannon University Hoped For in a Partner

13:01 - How Gannon University Found Ursuline College

16:21 - What’s Stopping More Colleges From Seeking Mergers?

21:36 - Learning From Other Mergers That Failed

23:04 - What Should Change to Help More Mergers Happen?

27:02 - Sponsor Break

29:00 - How to Change the Perception of M&A in Higher Ed

35:46 - Finding the Right Leadership

38:30 - What is the Trump Administration’s Stance on Making College Mergers Easier?

41:08 - Lightning Round

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We’re bringing back a favorite format to go behind the headlines with top beat reporters covering colleges. Our latest roundtable focuses on how the Trump administration’s many executive orders, research grant cancellations, and crackdowns on international students are changing the higher ed landscape in the U.S. and globally. Jeff and Michael are joined by reporters from The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, and The Chronicle of Higher Education to hear their insights and analysis. This episode made with support from Ascendium Education Group.

0:00 - Introducing the Reporters in the Roundtable

4:10 - How the Trump Administration Picks Which Colleges to Target?

8:36 - A Shift from Ivies to SEC Schools

11:01 - How the Campus Mood Is Different at Mizzou Than at Harvard

13:05 - What’s New With International Students on Campus

14:55 - Will International Education Decline Globally?

17:17 - The Impact of International Student Decline on Colleges’ Bottom Lines

19:07 - How Much Has International Enrollment Declined?

20:55 - Will International Students Fear Returning Home for the Summer?

22:24 - Sponsor Break

22:36 - Lessons from the Santa Ono Bid to Lead University of Florida

26:50 - Divide Between Red State and Blue State Universities

29:25 - Will Trump Changes to Higher Ed Stick?

35:38 - Predicting How the Supreme Court Will Rule on Harvard Case

37:13 - Lightning Round

"Universities in Red States and Heartland May Be Winners as Ivy League Contends with Trump Onslaught," 

by Hilary Burns in The Boston Globe

“Trump Administration’s Cuts to Harvard Funding Are Unconstitutional, Judge Rules,” 

by Doug Belkin in The Wall Street Journal

"Even as Classes Begin, Some Foreign Students Are Still in Visa Limbo,” 

by Karin Fischer in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

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In this era of uncertainty, many parents view highly-selective colleges as the best bet for their student’s futures. In his new book just out this month, Future U co-host Jeff Selingo challenges that assumption. For this episode, Jeff moves from the host chair to being a guest to share highlights from the book, ‘Dream School.’ He talks about going beyond which college’s name looks most impressive as a bumper sticker on the family car to focusing on the quality of a college’s teaching, whether it really fits the budget, and other factors that are specific to each student. This episode is made with support from Ascendium Education Group.

Jeff Selingo’s new book, Dream School

0:00 - Intro
2:06 - Why write this book?
3:23 - The ‘New Dream School’ List
11:28 - When Mismatched Schools Cause Dropouts
14:26 - Sponsor Break
16:51 - The Importance of Making Trade-offs
18:44 - Understanding What’s Motivating Choice
19:35 - How AI is Impacting Jobs and Causing Uncertainty About College
20:56 - What Should Colleges Do?
23:23 - Giving Families ‘Social Proof’ of a Broader Group of College
25:29 - The Doom Loop of College Finances
27:56 - How Future U Shaped the Book
29:14 - How Jeff Gets the Word Out on His Book

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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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