423 College Is Broken? Why Internships Beat GPA Every Time

What happens after you hit stop on a conversation that challenges everything you thought you knew about grades, college, and internships?

In this recap episode of the Disrupt Education Podcast, Peter Hostrawser and Alli Dahl unpack their recent conversation with Brandon Busteed and go even deeper into what it all means.

Peter shares the full circle moment of first hearing Brandon speak a decade ago and how that research on experiential learning helped shape the Disrupt Education movement. Alli connects the dots between her own early work experiences and the idea that we need to value the learning from all work, not just what happens in a classroom.

They wrestle with big questions.

If grades are inflated, what are they really measuring?Why are internships still not scaled in higher education?Are students going into debt for something employers are not prioritizing?

What would happen if we treated work as learning from day one?

This episode is about mindset shifts, internships, work based learning, and redefining what signals real readiness. If last week’s conversation made you think, this one will push you further. The data is there. The opportunity is there. The question is whether education and industry are ready to align.

A quick thank you to our sponsor, YouScience Brightpath, the next generation platform helping students make personalized decisions as they move from education to career. If you are serious about connecting students to real opportunities, head to youscience.com/disrupteducation-podcast. Request a demo and let them know you heard about YouScience right here.Check out more at DisruptEducationPodcast.com