Mergers and acquisitions are usually seen as bad things in higher ed. But there’s a growing sense that many colleges could benefit by teaming up, especially as the fiscal cliff means fewer potential students. Jeff and Michael continue to dive into their fascination with M&A by talking to Walter Iwanenko Jr, the president of Gannon University in Erie, Pa., about how and why the institution sought a merger with Ursuline College near Cleveland. This episode is made with support from Ascendium Education Group

“Two North Carolina universities announced a merger. Why some alumni are pushing back,” in USA Today.

“A Midwest Merger: How Two Ohio Colleges Are Coming Together,” from Future U, season 8.

3:42 - Why Mergers and Acquisitions Are Increasingly Important In HIgher Ed

6:15 - What Led Gannon University to Look for a Merger?

9:30 - What Gannon University Hoped For in a Partner

13:01 - How Gannon University Found Ursuline College

16:21 - What’s Stopping More Colleges From Seeking Mergers?

21:36 - Learning From Other Mergers That Failed

23:04 - What Should Change to Help More Mergers Happen?

27:02 - Sponsor Break

29:00 - How to Change the Perception of M&A in Higher Ed

35:46 - Finding the Right Leadership

38:30 - What is the Trump Administration’s Stance on Making College Mergers Easier?

41:08 - Lightning Round

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Dream School: Finding the College That's Right for You

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In this era of uncertainty, many parents view highly-selective colleges as the best bet for their student’s futures. In his new book just out this month, Future U co-host Jeff Selingo challenges that assumption. For this episode, Jeff moves from the host chair to being a guest to share highlights from the book, ‘Dream School.’ He talks about going beyond which college’s name looks most impressive as a bumper sticker on the family car to focusing on the quality of a college’s teaching, whether it really fits the budget, and other factors that are specific to each student. This episode is made with support from Ascendium Education Group.

Jeff Selingo’s new book, Dream School

0:00 - Intro
2:06 - Why write this book?
3:23 - The ‘New Dream School’ List
11:28 - When Mismatched Schools Cause Dropouts
14:26 - Sponsor Break
16:51 - The Importance of Making Trade-offs
18:44 - Understanding What’s Motivating Choice
19:35 - How AI is Impacting Jobs and Causing Uncertainty About College
20:56 - What Should Colleges Do?
23:23 - Giving Families ‘Social Proof’ of a Broader Group of College
25:29 - The Doom Loop of College Finances
27:56 - How Future U Shaped the Book
29:14 - How Jeff Gets the Word Out on His Book

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Dream School: Finding the College That's Right for You

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This summer brought no rest for college leaders. With the Trump Administration’s continuing push to reshape the college world, plus lots of announcements in Artificial Intelligence, there are many higher ed headlines to recap. So Jeff and Michael kick off season 9 with their take on the most important developments of the past couple of months. That includes Columbia University’s unprecedented settlement with the federal government, a new executive order on college admissions, and college trustees pushing for action on AI. And they unveil a new ‘speed round’ segment. This episode is made with support from Ascendium Education Group.

The Elite University Presidents Who Despise One Another: Inside the civil war between the Ivy League and the South in The Atlantic

Great Expectations, Fragile Foundations in On EdTech

1:36 - Our Summer Recap

4:09 - Behind the Scenes of Jeff’s Book Launch

8:10 - Meet the Future U Production Team

12:18 - Columbia University Settlement

21:00 - Trump’s Executive Order on Admissions

30:00 - What College Business Officers Are Talking About

34:15 - One Big Beautiful Bill’s Impact

39:30 - New ‘Lightning Round’ Segment

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Jeff and Michael are joined by Mushtaq Gunja, Executive Director of the Carnegie Classification Systems and Senior Vice President at ACE, to unpack the sweeping changes to the Carnegie Classifications. They explore how the new system aims to better group institutions, highlight student access and earnings, and shift incentives across funding, accountability, and rankings. The conversation dives into the implications for colleges chasing R1 status, the normative power of classifications, and whether these changes will meaningfully alter institutional behavior or simply create a new hierarchy. This episode is made with support from Ascendium Education Group and the Gates Foundation.

2025 Institutional Classifications, Carnegie Classifications of Institutions of Higher Education

2025 Research Activity Designations, Carnegie Classifications of Institutions of Higher Education

0:00 - Intro

05:50 - The Changing Higher Ed Landscape

08:06 - The Impact of the New Classifications

10:42 - Anticipating the Normative Effects

16:55 - New Funding Criteria

18:13 - Shifting to a Focus on Outcomes

21:17 - Measuring Access and Earnings

24:53 - Encouraging Good Use of the New Classifications

34:24 - Considering the Impact on Research Dollars

40:28 - Institutional Response to Access and Earnings Designations

46:30 - What This Means for Rankings

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The U.S. has a lot to learn when it comes to systematizing apprenticeship. Thankfully, there are successful international models, like Switzerland’s, that we can study. Katie Caves, the Director at Switzerland’s Center on the Economics and Management of Education and Training Systems, joins the podcast to discuss the Swiss model and what can be gleaned from it. They discuss its permeability between academic and vocational tracks, proving its value to employers, the prestige of Swiss apprenticeships, and the principles that hold across borders. This episode is made with support from Ascendium Education Group

Return on investment of apprenticeship systems for enterprises: Evidence from cost-benefit analyses

by Samuel Muehlemann & Stefan C Wolter

0:00 - Intro

3:35 - Swiss Apprenticeship 101

6:56 - Path Selection and Funding

13:46 - The Status of Apprenticeship in Switzerland

18:58 - Borrowing Across Borders

25:15 - The ROI to Employers

29:47 - Evaluating Indiana’s Apprenticeship Model

33:45 - Imbuing Prestige in American Apprenticeship

38:49 - Striking the Balance

43:01 - The Influence of Accountability

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What does a community college in Idaho have to do with mounting economic tensions between the U.S. and China? A lot, actually.

On this episode of Future U., Michael and Jeff dive into what the CHIPS and Science Act—the federal spending package designed to reduce the United States’ reliance on foreign manufacturers for microchips and other advanced technologies—means for a segment of American postsecondary institutions that’s often forgotten in these conversations: community colleges. They talk with nonprofit and government leaders about how the CHIPS supports the education and training of a high tech workforce. They then go deep with the team at the College of Western Idaho to get a view of how they are developing these programs in collaboration with their corporate partner, Micron. This episode is sponsored by Ascendium Education Group.