Today we’re going to examine the fate of regional public institutions, particularly in the Upper Midwest and the Mid Atlantic regions.  An overwhelming number of these institutions have robust athletics programs on their campuses in all NCAA divisions. 

The Brookings Institute recently assessed the economic, educational effects and overall well-being of regional public universities within the Great Lakes region, which consists of six Midwestern states: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. While these states have been important sources of natural resources and centers of economic activity over the past two decades, economic trends such as globalization and automation have hollowed out their labor markets. We'll also look at Pennsylvania.

I'm joined today by Sara Hebel, a co-founder of Open Campus Media, a nonprofit news organization focused on transforming local reporting about higher education. A former assistant managing editor at The Chronicle of Higher Education, Sara has more than two decades of experience as a newsroom leader and higher-education journalist.