Future U Podcast - The Pulse of Higher Ed

I’ve been reading Jeff Selingo’s books since my older son was in middle school. Jeff has helped educate me on the application process as well as the general landscape and challenges of Higher Education. His Future U podcast has been a great way to keep my finger on the pulse of this industry, a topic that continues to fascinate me. As my younger son is now in the undergrad application process, and my older son is applying to grad school, this podcast is so interesting and informative to me. The graduate school episode (Feb 2024) was particularly eye-opening and clarified so many realities. I very much appreciate all the research, insight and reflections this podcast offers!

I respect Jeff and Michael, but I’m deeply disappointed by their recent episode recapping Trump’s first 100 days. Repeated references to colleges having an antisemitism problem with no mention of Islamophobia, which is incredibly prevalent as well (Harvard’s dual reports suggest as much). I do not deny the rise of antisemitism in recent years, far from it, but it’s ludicrous to leave out an entire population of students whose experience on campus has been incredibly fraught (especially given that several of the illegal deportations targeted students who had expressed support for Palestine). If you’re going to condemn colleges for their inadequate response to one form of bigotry, it’s unconscionable that you would be completely silent on another.

I’m a trustee at a college and find this podcast fascinating as a citizen and incredibly useful as a trustee. Rather than just tell me stories like other higher ed podcasts or just tell me what’s happening in the news, it brings the experts to the table in insightful interviews. Most of all appreciate Michael and Jeff’s take on things. I don’t always agree, but Michael is able to bring a framework to help us think about an issue, and Jeff is just incredibly sourced so you’re always hearing connections he makes between trends. Keep up the good work.

Welcome back! Always enjoy the podcast while quite disenchanted with the ossified debacle that is Higher Ed in the US. Is an antiquated “4 year residential experience” really worth a roughly 300k pretax (or 600k+ post tax) “investment” per child? Are colleges public goods to serve the public interest or are they simply hedge fund arms of a select, few cadre of elite institutions? Are they places to train professional or Olympian athletes in lesser sports? We have gone far astray from the purpose of college as institutions of higher education affordable to all. Given few signs of innovation and cost controls, the future looks bleak.