Future U Podcast - The Pulse of Higher Ed

The funding model for scientific research in the U.S. hasn’t changed much since the end of World War II. The basic formula: generous federal grants to universities, with private companies gradually picking up innovative product ideas from the findings. Today there’s growing talk of a reset. And that might mean fewer federal funds for universities and more partnerships with industry, philanthropy, and state governments. Oh, and AI may cause even more disruption. On this episode, Jeff and Michael talk with Justin Schwartz, chancellor of the University of Colorado at Boulder, who has been trying out new kinds of research partnerships. This episode is made with support from Ascendium Education Group.Chapters0:00 - Introduction2:00 - Introducing Our Guest3:09 - A ‘Cycle of Reactivity’ in Research4:56 - Moving From Entitlement to Impact7:12 - How Research Funding Needs to Change11:45 - Can Private Enterprise Make Up For Lost Federal Funds?13:41 - What About Global Competition?16:36 - The Reverse-Pitch Model18:22 - Should Colleges Benefit More When Research is Commercialized?23:07 - Why Aren’t Companies Complaining About Cuts?28:40 - How More Local Funding of Research Alters the Landscape32:11 - How Will AI Impact University Research?37:15 - Sponsor Break37:48 - A Candid Assessment39:13 - Making the Value of Research Clearer41:57 - Defining What Research Serves ‘The National Interest’45:12 - Cuts Could Have Long-Lasting Consequences47:58 - Searching For a Long-Term Consensus51:41 - AI Could Bring New Players In Research53:44 - Wrap-UpRelevant Links:“The Endless Frontier,” by Vannevar Bush, 1945. “Science: A New Golden Age,” U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy, 2026.“CU Boulder joins CU spinout Inflection, other innovators in America's Quantum Space Initiative,” U.C. Boulder website.Michael Crow says invention of iPhone was backed by the work of 3,000 researchers. ASU’s Instagram account.

It’s time for universities to take big swings. To meet this moment of uncertainty and anxiety, the University of Southern California is moving to a model where more students engage in hands-on experiences as they learn. But what can colleges do when there aren’t enough internships for all the students who want them? Jeff and Michael explore this topic with Beong-Soo Kim (president, USC), Ian McDaniel (a USC undergrad who interned at SpaceX), Gaurav Sukhatme (USC’s dean of engineering), Shauna Chung (senior manager for higher ed at Adobe), and David Barnhart (research professor of astronautical engineering at USC). This episode is made with support from Adobe.Chapters0:00    Episode Introduction3:03    Goals for USC in the Next 10 Years6:59    How Important Is Experiential Learning?10:12    Providing Immersive Education to Every Student12:07    How Can Colleges Afford Experiential Programs?14:49    Are Colleges Doing Enough to Cut Costs?16:39    Comprehensiveness Versus Specialization 19:02    Making Tough Trade-Offs 21:20    Balancing Risk and Ambition24:15    The Importance of Board Culture26:46    Sponsor Break27:24    Introducing USC Panel28:26    Adding Internships to an Engineering Degree31:42    A College Student’s Case For Hands-On Learning34:15    How Students Can Show What They Know in AI Era39:09    Building a Flywheel42:03    Potential Downsides of University Partnerships43:23    Scaling Experiential Learning46:18    Where Do Students Learn Soft Skills?48:36    What Skills Are Employers Looking For Now?51:25    Making Sure Internships Aren’t Just Free Labor53:55    Wrap-UpRelevant Links“Why Don’t More Colleges Run Co-Op Programs,” on Future U.“Northeastern University: A New Model for Higher Education?,” Harvard Business School case study.“State of the School 2026: Built for What Comes Next,” from USC.“Students Design and Build a Rocket to Carry Payloads to Space,” from USC.“Future of Work and Learning Report,” by Adobe.

Melik Khoury is the rare college president whose essay about higher ed went viral. He argued that while college leaders and professors tell themselves their mission is about students, the governance structures and incentives instead serve its workforce. On this episode, Jeff and Michael talk with Khoury about his work transforming the institution he leads, Unity Environmental University. And they hear the challenges he faced in a sector where people often assume that tradition is regulation. This episode is made with support from Ascendium Education Group.Chapters0:00 - Intro2:00 - A Turnaround Story at Unity4:42 - Colleges Are Designed to Serve Employees, Not StudentsTKTK - What Sparked a Viral Essay About College Structures9:03 - How Unity Changed Its Model13:57 - Can Other Colleges Easily Follow Unity’s Example?16:20 - When to Stop an Experiment That Isn’t Working19:17 - Higher Ed Is At a Crossroads21:58 - How Will AI Change Higher Ed?26:40 - When Tradition Seems Like Regulation32:30 - Leaders Are Unprepared for Change34:40 - Colleges Need Bold Action37:15 - Presidents Should Use Their Skills As Educators to Sell Change40:40 - The Best College Leaders Are Leaning In On AI43:56 - Wrap-UpRelevant Links:“The Lie at the Center of Higher Education,” by Melik Khoury on Substack.“The Library Card Fallacy,” by Melik Khoury on Substack.“We Outgrew the Butterfly. Now We Are Building an Octopus,” by Melik Khoury on Substack.“Reimagining the Academy: Unity Environmental University on Breaking the Higher Ed Mold,” in AcOps Magazine.

A donor recently gave $3 billion to Carnegie Mellon University, in part to build a new campus in Florida. It’s just the latest example of colleges staking out new territory far from their main campuses. Jeff and Michael give their analysis of the trend, as they reflect on a range of recent developments in higher education. Other topics this episode include the enrollment crisis at Syracuse University, a report out of Cornell on the purpose of the university, and how colleges can balance academic rigor and student success. This episode is made with support from Ascendium Education Group.Chapters0:00 - Intro1:56 - What Should Students Still Have to Work Through?6:39 - Balancing Mastery Learning and AI9:55 - Knowing When to Bring In AI10:49 - Rethinking Assessment12:12 - A Case Study on Northeastern’s Co-Op Program18:57 - Geography’s Increasingly Role In Higher Ed26:03 - Colleges Face New ‘Enterprise Risks’30:34 - Sponsor Break31:17 - Colleges Look to Clarify Their Purpose27:31 - Do Colleges Really Prepare Students for Jobs?35:26 - Judgement Requires Knowledge38:14 - Moving ‘Beyond Silos’41:33 - Making Pathways Dependable43:51 - Wrap-UpRelevant Links“Northeastern University: A New Model for Higher Education?,” Harvard Business School case study.“Why some universities are gobbling up campuses all over the place,” by Michael Horn in The Boston Globe.“After Missing Its Enrollment Goal, Syracuse is Questioning Everything,” in The Chronicle of Higher Education.“MIT’s Ad Hoc Committee on AI Use in Teaching, Learning, and Research Training Report,” by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.“The State of Higher Education 2026,” by Jeff Selingo.“The Future of the American University,” a report from Cornell University.

For this season’s roundtable with leading higher ed reporters, Jeff and Michael focused around a key question: What are insiders at colleges missing about the changing public perception of the sector? Our guests — Hilary Burns of The Boston Globe and Jay Caspian Kang of The New Yorker — both offered a sobering critique that might surprise some college leaders. The reporters also wondered whether the traditional business model could hold up to mounting financial pressures. This episode is made with support from Ascendium Education Group.Chapters0:00 - Introduction2:19 - What Insiders Miss About the Moment in Higher Ed5:25 - Higher Ed Stories That Spark the Most Feedback11:18 - Will College Continue to Be Worth It?14:20 - Are Co-ops a Fad or a Lasting Trend?17:53 - A ‘Flashing Red Light’ for Higher Ed21:04 - ‘These Towns Would Be Really Boring’22:12 - The State of Higher Ed in New England24:06 - The Continuing Lure of College38.12 - What’s Coming for Higher Ed?31:00 - A Looming Reckoning for Boston Colleges?32:56 - What’s Happening With International Students?34:09 - How Research Cuts Will Impact Colleges34:53 - Is the Era of Colleges for Exploration and Ideas Over?Relevant Links:College Town newsletter, from The Boston Globe.“The Reason Dozens of Mass. Colleges Could Close (Hint: It's Not Trump),” by Hilary Burns, in The Boston Globe.“The Despair of the Professor in the Age of AI,” by Jay Caspian Kang in The New Yorker.“Higher Ed Leaders Fear International Students Will Stop Coming Amid Research Cuts,” by Hilary Burns, in The Boston Globe.“Will A.I. Make College Obsolete? / Eight Predictions,” by Jay Caspian Kang, in The New Yorker