GBH recently took College Uncovered on the road to the University of Massachusetts Boston, in the city’s Dorchester neighborhood, about eight miles from some of the nation’s well-known Ivy League institutions. 

We chose UMass Boston not just because it’s in our backyard, but because campuses like it represent where most students in the U.S. actually go to college. Roughly 80 percent of students attend public universities and colleges, and most of them don’t graduate on time. When it comes to navigating shifting demographics, serving students, and meeting workforce demands, UMass Boston Chancellor Marcelo Suárez-Orozco says institutions need to start by connecting with their own backyards. 

“What we have is a rapidly aging population below replacement fertility rates,” Suárez Orozco says. “And we have a new dynamic in that the sectors of the population that are growing are the sectors of the population that we, UMass Boston, serve. These are of immigrant origin mostly, and second generation."

In this special episode, GBH’s Kirk Carapezza moderates a panel discussion between Suárez Orozco, Fanta Aw, CEO of NAFSA: The Association of International Educators, and Marjorie Hass, president of the Council of Independent Colleges. The higher ed leaders discuss challenges and opportunities created by the so-called demographic cliff, and how colleges are responding to sustained political pressure on American higher education. 

In the episode’s second half, education reporter Jon Marcus of The Hechinger Reporter explains how colleges are trying to recruit and retain adult learners and why a growing number of schools are trimming the traditional bachelor’s degree to three years.

"The new kind of three-year degree only requires 90 credits, and that's increasingly being approved by accreditors who are under political pressure and by states who recognize the consumer demand for work-oriented bachelor's degrees," Marcus says. 

Related links: 

The Demographic Cliff

The Student Trade Wars

Colleges are reconnecting with students who left before earning their degrees

Faster, thinner: Colleges are swiftly trimming a B.A. degree to three years

“College Uncovered” is made possible by Lumina Foundation.

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Credits:

Host and Producer: Kirk Carapezza 

Editors: Azita Ghahramani and Lisa Wardle

Executive Producer: Lee Hill  

Mixing and Sound Design: David Goodman & Gary Mott

Theme Song and original music: Left-Roman

Artwork: Matt Welch 

Project Manager: Isabel Hibbard

Consulting Producer and Head of GBH Podcasts: Devin Maverick Robins

"College Uncovered" is a production of GBH News