In this season premiere, Michael Horn and Jeff Selingo begin their 10th year by looking at how higher education must adapt to compounding financial challenges, AI disruptions, and growing public scrutiny over degree value. The hosts discuss new approaches for managing academic programs, arguing that, in order to keep running, colleges can no longer afford to be everything to everyone and must clearly define their core offerings.
Selingo challenges the traditional “comprehensive university” model, warning that universities are being forced into contraction after ambitious expansion. “Because a school down the road was offering it, we felt we had to offer it. Or because a college that we wanted to be more like, or an institution further up in the rankings offered it, we felt we had to offer it,” Selingo reflects. “And I think those days are simply over.”