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University of Phoenix has been a lightning rod in higher education for decades, but its 50-year milestone raises a more useful question than reputations: what does it look like to design a university around working adults who are balancing jobs, caregiving, and everything else life throws at them? I sit down with Dr. John Wood, Chief Academic Officer and Provost, to talk about what “working-learner first” means in day-to-day practice and why that mindset matters for every college staring down shifting demographics and rising expectations.

We get specific about skills-based education and the push toward skills-based hiring. John walks through how Phoenix mapped its curriculum to workforce skills using Bureau of Labor Statistics data, industry advisory councils, programmatic accreditors, alumni feedback, and practitioner faculty experience. We also dig into micro-credentials and digital badges that let students communicate what they can do, not just what they completed, plus how skills profiles can connect learners to real job postings while they are still in school.

From there, we hit the accountability questions: how to measure economic mobility, what outcomes data will look like under new regulations, and how alumni feedback can reveal whether programs deliver on the promise. We also talk transfer partnerships with community colleges, transfer-friendly degree design, competency-based education models that save time and money, and the growing need to teach durable human skills alongside technical skills.

AI is the throughline, too: AI policy that must keep evolving, AI fluency embedded across programs, and AI tools that improve service and learning support without pretending there’s a single “silver bullet.” Subscribe, share this conversation with a colleague, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway or your toughest question about skills, outcomes, or AI in higher education.

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Three million calls a month is not a marketing flex. It’s a signal that higher education is moving into a new operating model, where AI can expand student support without pushing humans out of the picture. I sit down with Ruben Harris and Timor Maester, co-founders of Outrival (and previously Career Karma), to unpack what they mean by a “digital workforce” and why outbound AI agents are becoming a real tool for admissions, advising, retention, and re-enrollment. 

We get specific about how colleges and universities can deploy agentic AI in ways that are measurable and responsible. Ruben explains why treating AI like an intern with a job description and a clear objective helps leaders move past vague pilots and into outcomes you can track. Timor shares use cases that work on the ground, from proactively reaching stop-outs months after they’ve gone silent to re-engaging applicants who started the process and then disappeared, all while giving students the option to connect to the right human at the right time. 

We also talk about what most vendors gloss over: performance management, experimentation, and compliance. Dashboards, text-based feedback loops, call reviews, and even A/B testing voices and scripts can help teams improve the quality of conversations while respecting policies and outreach rules. We close with a five-year vision of real personalization at scale, where a student can text their college 24/7 and feel known, guided, and supported. Subscribe, share this episode, and leave a review so more higher ed leaders can learn what’s actually working with AI right now.

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AI in higher education is everywhere right now, but most of what schools hear is theory, hype, or another vendor promise. We wanted something more concrete, so I sat down with Ruben Harris and Timur Meyster, co-founders of Outrival (and previously Career Karma), to talk about what it looks like to deploy a real “digital workforce” that supports students at scale without pushing humans out of the loop.

We get specific about outbound AI agents that call and text proactively across the student lifecycle, from enrollment to retention and re-enrollment. Ruben and Timur share why they avoid one-size-fits-all bots and instead give each digital worker a clear job description tied to measurable goals like meaningful conversations, contact rates, persistence, and ROI. We also dig into practical use cases colleges can start with quickly, including reaching out to stop-outs, following up with prospective students who went quiet, and helping learners navigate complex steps like financial aid and missing documents, all while integrating with systems like Slate and Salesforce.

Then we talk about what leaders actually need to manage this well: student feedback via text surveys, dashboards that surface patterns across thousands of conversations, and a real supervision model that includes training, objection handling, tone and voice tuning, and ongoing compliance considerations like FERPA and responsible outreach. We also preview Ruben and Timur’s new series, The New Normal, focused on institutions using AI in production at scale.

Subscribe, share this episode with a colleague, and leave a review if it helped you think more clearly about AI strategy that actually shows results.

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Most higher ed systems still treat the “typical” student like someone with a wide-open schedule and a campus life built around them. That assumption falls apart the moment you meet a working parent, a service member with deployment orders, or a community college transfer juggling rent, kids, and a job while trying to move up. 

I’m joined by Dr. Mark Milliron, president of National University, to talk about what it looks like to design for those learners on purpose. Mark calls them “Anders” because they are students and employees, students and parents, students and deployed. We get into National University’s Navy-rooted history, why short four- and eight-week courses can lower cognitive load, and how program design, student support, and real-world experiences have to work together if we want adult learners to finish strong and see real economic mobility. 

We also dig into affordability and access: tuition strategy, scholarships, emergency aid, and a clear pathway for community college transfers, including how Pell-eligible ADT students can see tuition effectively covered. Then we go head-on at AI in higher education, including National’s cross-functional AI council, the “about, with, and beyond” learning framework, and Raise Five, a simple rubric that makes AI expectations clear for every assignment while pushing faculty to rethink what learning should look like now. 

If you care about working learners, military-connected students, and practical innovation that keeps humans at the center, you’ll take a lot from this conversation. Subscribe, share this with a colleague, and leave a review with the one change you think colleges should make first.

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$4.4 trillion is a hard number to even picture, so we bring it down to earth. We’re unpacking new California economic impact research created with the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, focused on what happens if the state reaches 70% postsecondary attainment for working age adults with credentials that actually pay off in the labor market. Think certificates, associate degrees, and bachelor’s degrees that lead to higher wages, stronger careers, and real economic mobility.

We talk through the stakes behind Governor Gavin Newsom’s 70% attainment goal, starting from where California sits today and why “average progress” is not enough if entire regions and demographic groups are left behind. You’ll hear how the analysis estimates $4.4 trillion in economic opportunity, how that benefit shows up for individuals and public budgets, and why the ripple effects can reshape communities over generations. We also face the cost question head on: what additional investment could be required, when returns can start to pay back, and why alignment between higher education and workforce demand is the difference between a credential and a cul-de-sac.

Then we zoom out to the deeper point: if the pathway to college and training depends on random luck, the system is failing the very people it claims to serve. We connect the data to the lived reality of Californians who do not see the California dream as reachable, and we lay out what redesigned, flexible pathways for today’s learners could look like, especially for working adults.

If you care about California higher education, workforce development, economic equity, and the future of opportunity, listen now, share it with someone who debates the value of college, and subscribe and leave a review so more people can find the conversation.

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$4.4 trillion. That’s the projected economic opportunity California could unlock if we hit a 70% postsecondary attainment rate and do it across every community, not just in the places that already have the most options. We dig into new work created with the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, and we ask the question underneath the headline: what changes when more working-age Californians earn credentials of value that the labor market actually rewards?

We walk through the real mechanics behind the number with Georgetown’s Jeff Strohl: how lifetime earnings drive most of the gain, how tax revenue and public coffers benefit, and why ripple effects matter when wages rise and spending follows. We also face the investment side directly, including the estimate of roughly $198 billion in additional spending on top of what California already invests through UC, CSU, community colleges, Cal Grant, and workforce education and training.

Then we widen the lens to the stakes that don’t fit neatly in a spreadsheet: economic mobility, attainment gaps by zip code and background, adult learners who need flexible pathways, and a state that can be both one of the richest places on earth and home to the nation’s highest poverty rate. If the California Dream is going to mean something again, we can’t keep designing education around a learner who no longer exists, and we can’t keep accepting luck as the default system.

If this conversation hits home, subscribe, share the episode with someone who cares about California’s future, and leave a review with the one change you think would make the biggest difference.

https://collegefutures.org/our-golden-ticket/

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Accreditation sounds like a backstage technicality until you realize it controls the front door to college for millions of students. If an institution loses accreditation, it can lose access to Title IV funding like Pell Grants, and that single lever can reshape who gets served, what gets taught, and what leaders feel safe saying out loud.

I’m joined by Mike Gavin, president of the Alliance for Higher Education, to unpack why accreditation has become the next big battleground in Washington, DC. We talk through negotiated rulemaking, the growing rhetoric that treats accreditation as a political tool, and the real-world stakes of proposals that could restrict practices many campuses rely on, like disaggregating student data by race or gender. Mike also explains why a federally imposed view of “intellectual diversity” could narrow curriculum and trigger a chilling effect on classrooms, syllabi, and campus decision-making.

We don’t let the current system off the hook. We also dig into the toughest critiques of accreditation: uneven accountability, limited competition among accreditors, and the slow pace of approving innovation like competency-based education. From community colleges to four-year universities, we explore what meaningful outcomes should look like, why ROI is not the whole story, and how higher education can prove value while still protecting institutional autonomy and academic freedom.

If you care about the future of higher education policy, student financial aid, and campus freedom, listen, share this conversation with a colleague, and leave a review so more leaders find it.

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The fastest changes in higher education are hitting the students with the least margin for error and community colleges are the ones standing in the middle of it. I sit down with Dr Anne Kress, President of Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA), to get specific about what student success looks like when you serve 76,000 learners across six campuses, including thousands of high school dual enrollment students and working adults balancing jobs, childcare, and long commutes.

We dig into the hard question families keep asking: is college worth it? Anne explains how community colleges can earn trust through higher education accountability, clear return on investment (ROI), and transparent outcomes like transfer savings and wage gains. We also unpack the confusing credential economy and what “market value credentials” should actually mean: industry-recognized credentials tied to real hiring demand, tracked results, and stackable pathways that turn short-term training into college credit so there is no wrong door.

Then we move into generative AI in education and the AI-powered economy growing around Northern Virginia’s data centers. Anne makes the case that students do not always need an AI degree, but they do need AI skill sets inside programs like healthcare, cybersecurity, skilled trades, and IT. On the operations side, we talk about using data and AI to deliver a more personalized learning experience, from smarter transcript evaluation to coaching and career support that helps students stay on track and finish.

If you care about community college leadership, workforce credentials, transfer pathways, and AI for student success, this conversation is for you. Subscribe, share the episode with a colleague, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.

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Higher education feels like it’s moving on fast forward and the last year has been proof. We’re taking a moment to say thank you to everyone who’s watched, listened, subscribed, and helped grow The Rant Podcast across nearly 80 episodes, and then we pivot to what’s coming next as the education marketplace gets reshaped in real time.

Conference season is here, and whether you’re headed to the ASU GSV Summit, Ellucian Live, or any gathering in the higher ed universe, one topic keeps taking over every hallway conversation: AI in higher education. I talk through why artificial intelligence is showing up everywhere from student experience and institutional data strategy to day to day fears about what happens to jobs. We also dig into the real opportunity if we get this right: using AI to lower the cost of providing education, reach more learners, and create more personal learning experiences for working adults, military learners, and students balancing life and school.

I also share what we’re wrestling with in philanthropy and workforce development, and why state leaders are now treating AI and postsecondary attainment as economic strategy. A new report we’re publishing with Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce will spotlight the economic impact of not reaching more working learners in California and what that signal could mean for the rest of the country.

If you care about college access, affordability, economic mobility, and practical ways technology can strengthen learning across a lifetime, hit play. Subscribe, share the show with a colleague, and leave a review so more people can find these conversations.

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Eloy Ortiz Oakley hosts The Rant podcast and welcomes back Laura Ipsen, CEO of Ellucian, to discuss how higher education is navigating intensified pressures around accountability, affordability, enrollment, staffing constraints, and workforce alignment. Ipsen explains that better data transparency is essential to building trust and improving outcomes, and describes Ellucian’s work helping institutions modernize from on-prem to SaaS, clean and connect siloed data, and adopt AI and agentic capabilities to streamline workflows and support decision-making while keeping humans central. She highlights rising AI adoption across higher education, new governance efforts, and Ellucian’s platform direction, including Ellucian Student, skills-to-jobs tools, and a partnership bringing Ariana Huffington’s Thrive wellbeing resources into the student experience. They also preview priorities for the upcoming Ellucian Live event and Ipsen’s vision for broader modernization over the next 3–5 years.

www.ellucian.com

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