Season 3 Finale

The education landscape has transformed dramatically over the past six months, and we're only at the beginning of what promises to be a defining era for colleges and universities nationwide. As we wrap up Season 3 with our milestone 65th episode, we reflect on the seismic shifts reshaping higher education while looking ahead to even greater disruption in 2025 and beyond.

Throughout our journey, we've been fortunate to partner with forward-thinking sponsors who recognize the importance of having candid conversations about higher education's future. Organizations like Arizona State University, RisePoint, Open Classrooms, and others have enabled us to bring you insightful discussions with industry leaders who are navigating these challenging waters.

Season 4 promises to tackle the most pressing issues facing educational institutions today: the integration of artificial intelligence into learning environments, the policy impacts of the Trump administration, a new national accountability framework, and the fundamental reconsideration of higher education's value proposition. These aren't merely academic discussions—they represent existential challenges for institutions clinging to outdated models while students demand greater transparency and return on investment.

My final rant of the season addresses what's truly at stake: the future of higher education as a vehicle for economic mobility and societal advancement. From the new Workforce Pell Program to accountability frameworks centered on ROI, the message is clear—higher education must confront its shortcomings in affordability, accessibility, and demonstrated outcomes. Leaders who hide from these challenges, who abandon institutional missions in the face of political pressure, will find themselves on the wrong side of history. Instead, we need bold leadership that embraces change while maintaining an unwavering commitment to equity and student success.

Which kind of leader will you be? Join us for Season 4 as we continue to pull back the curtain on the people, policies, and politics shaping higher education's future. Subscribe now so you don't miss a single episode of what promises to be our most revealing season yet.

eloy@4leggedmedia.com

Chapters

• 0:10 Welcome to Episode 65
• 1:04 Thank You to Our Sponsors
• 5:24 Season 4 Preview
• 6:55 Final Rant on Higher Education
• 9:45 Call for Bold Leadership

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:10

Hi, this is Eloy Ortiz-Oakley and welcome back to the Rant Podcast, the podcast where we pull back the curtain and break down the people, the policies and the politics of our higher education system our higher education system. This episode marks the end of Season 3 and the celebration of our 65th Rant podcast episode. Over the last three seasons, higher education has gone through significant changes, none more sweeping than in the last six months. 2025 has already been an e-ticket ride, and the ride has only just begun. In season four, we'll have much more to say about the higher education marketplace. We will dive into artificial intelligence, the Trump administration and the changes in the workforce to see how they continue to disrupt the higher education marketplace. But first I want to highlight that without our sponsors, we could not have published all 65 episodes, with some outstanding guests.

Speaker 1: 1:16

I want to thank our sponsors, beginning with Arizona State University. Asu has been a partner and sponsor from day one. Michael Crow has been a two-time guest on this podcast. Asu always leads with an innovation mindset and is a strong example of an elite public university that is pushing to expand access to people of all walks of life and access to people of all walks of life. I also want to thank RisePoint, formerly Academic Partnerships, who has also been a sponsor from day one. Risepoint has been helping and supporting colleges and universities throughout the country gain access and deliver high-quality online education that helps meet learners where they're at. Thank you, rice Point. Another day one sponsor Open Classrooms. Pierre Dubuc and his team over at Open Classrooms have recently received their accreditation from WASC and have been delivering high-impact apprenticeship programs throughout the US and the EU for several years now, and those apprenticeship pathways are helping transform the education marketplace and to drive more economic value into programs of study. I also want to thank Ellucian another day one sponsor. Ellucian is one of the biggest names in higher education resource planning solutions and, as I said, it's been a supporter from the very beginning. Ellucian is creating value for their higher education partners by improving the efficiency and the effectiveness of their data and financial systems. A big thank you also to Alliant International University Again, another day, one sponsor. Alliant continues to transform the professional graduate program landscape by creating and delivering high-quality programs in mental health, professional psychology and the healthcare industry. Thank you, alliant International University.

Speaker 1: 3:35

I also want to thank Education Strategy Group. Esg is a two-time sponsor of the Rant podcast and is providing consulting expertise to colleges, universities and governments across the country, helping them place a renewed focus on workforce solutions and guiding them to thrive in this new education marketplace. I also want to thank BrandEd, a recent podcast sponsor. We featured the CEO of BrandEd, brandon Bastide, on one of our recent podcast episodes. They are partnering with some of the world's biggest name brands, like Sotheby's and the New York Times, to create high-quality, high-impact work-based learning opportunities for students across the country. Those work-based learning opportunities are a great example of how to create value in programs of study that more colleges and universities should think about replicating. And then finally, last but not least, our in-kind sponsor, college Futures Foundation. Last but not least, our in-kind sponsor, college Futures Foundation. College Futures is a private foundation here in California focused on improving economic mobility through post-secondary education for low and moderate income learners. These sponsors allow the Rant podcast to produce great content and to attract tremendous guests that give our listeners unique insights into what's going on in the higher education marketplace. They also help us break down the people, the policies and the politics of our higher education system. So I look forward to more great guests in Season 4.

Speaker 1: 5:24

Speaking of Season 4, we will dive into the continued changes in the higher education marketplace. We will dig into the evolving artificial intelligence impact on higher education, the chaos and the opportunities created by the Trump administration. The chaos and the opportunities created by the Trump administration, the evolving national accountability framework that was recently signed into law, and the changes in the narrative around higher education value. So I hope that you take a moment to subscribe to this podcast. If you're watching us on YouTube, hit subscribe and hit the little bell the notification budget so you never miss a new episode. Please share your favorite episodes with your family and your friends and your colleagues, and if you're listening to us on your favorite audio podcast platform, follow us and and download all of the newest episodes. Thank you to all of our subscribers, all of our followers and all of our listeners here on the Rant Podcast. You are the reason that we keep coming back and producing more and more content. Please send us your thoughts and your comments, share with us any ideas you might have on topics or guests that you'd like me to take on, and please send us your thoughts on how we can continue to improve the Rant podcast. Now, as we close out Season 3, let me give you one last rant From the new Workforce Pell Program, to the new Accountability Framework for Return on Investment, to the reigning in of graduate program educational costs.

Speaker 1: 7:13

Times are changing for higher education leaders and in many ways it's about time. Not that I'm fully on board with all of the discriminatory policies and executive orders that the administration has promulgated, but it is about time that the higher education marketplace take accountability for the spiraling cost of attending college, the lack of transparency and the decline in confidence in our higher education institutions. Now is the time to lean into the concerns that have been raised for many years from learners and the public about the value in higher education. And I don't mean leaning into all of the negative anti-DEI or populist rhetoric that has captivated the nation right now. I mean leaning in to the challenge that learners have faced for years, if not decades, in the American higher education system. Now is the time to reimagine the traditional residential college experience so that we can create more value and more transparency for our learners. We need to open up more RON ramps to a quality post-secondary experience, not continue to restrict them. Now is also the time for more transparency in costs and return on investment for the learner return on investment for the learner, as well as ensuring that learners have more agency and are aware of what they should expect. Now it's also the time to push back on our critics and clearly demonstrate the economic value that's produced by a diverse student body that represents the backgrounds of all learners in communities and states across this country.

Speaker 1: 9:07

Far too many higher education leaders today have run away, have hidden, have buried their heads in the sand. They've abandoned their principles and the mission that their institutions were established on. Now is the time for those leaders that lean into the most profound changes and challenges that are before us in the higher education marketplace, those leaders that lead with conviction and a focus on equity. Those are the leaders that history will remember as the leaders that mattered. Which kind of leader will you be? Thanks for joining me, everybody, and I look forward to seeing you all in Season 4. Thank you.