Podcasts by The Key with Inside Higher Ed

Ep. 100: The Key Podcast Hits 100 (Episodes) from 2023-10-11T13:41:45

Three years ago, Inside Higher Ed created a podcast to try to give its audience insight into how the COVID-19 pandemic was affecting colleges, employees and students, with a particular focus on ...

Ep. 99: Designing Courseware to Produce Equitable Outcomes from 2023-09-26T16:40:27

“Gateway courses” are supposed to clear the path to fields of study, but for millions of students who struggle in those key classes, they often shut the door prematurely.

This week's epis...

Ep. 98: Streamlining and Scaling Transfer for Equity’s Sake from 2023-09-12T09:40:59

The complex, confusing process by which students move between colleges has been an acknowledged barrier impeding postsecondary completion, particularly for underrepresented st...

Bonus Episode: Campus Interview with Stevens Institute of Technology Dean of Undergraduate Education Eve Riskin from 2023-08-21T14:44:06

The Key continues to share Inside Higher Ed’s latest collaboration with Times Higher Education – Campus Podcast. Eve Ri...

Bonus Episode: Campus Interview with Montclair State University President Jonathan Koppell from 2023-07-24T14:55:39

The Key shares Inside Higher Ed’s latest collaboration with Times Higher Education – Campus Podcast. This interview fea...

Ep. 97:Promoting Student Well-Being in Today’s Learning Environments from 2023-05-25T12:45:33

This week’s episode of The Key, Inside Higher Ed’s news and analysis podcast, builds off a great conversation that took place earlier this month at Listen

Ep.86: Reprise: Mergers and Major Cross-College Collaborations from 2022-07-20T10:16:59

Many people in higher education recoil at the idea of merging institutions, and it’s little wonder: in most such arrangements, one institution swallows the other, which virtually disappears. But...

Ep.85: Reading the Tea Leaves on the College Enrollment Drop from 2022-06-21T20:51:24

College and university enrollments – particularly at community colleges – continue to plummet. Have they bottomed out? Will they recover if the economy cools off as expected? Has enrollment drop...

Ep 84: Defining the Role of Digital Learning on Campus from 2022-06-01T09:39:16

How are colleges and universities going about rethinking their teaching and learning strategies in the wake of widescale experimentation with digital instruction?

This week’s episode is t...

Ep 83: What Colleges and Instructors Need From Ed-Tech Companies from 2022-05-24T21:39:03

The last two years disrupted many aspects of higher education, and the educational technology market -- and the relationship between colleges and companies – are no exception.

This week’s...

Ep 82: What Have We Learned About Digital Learning? from 2022-05-17T20:40:50

This week’s episode of The Key explores whether and how the landscape of digital teaching and learning has been changed by the last two years of global pandemic, recession, upheaval over racial ...

Ep 81: The Top Federal Higher Ed Policy Maker Speaks from 2022-05-10T20:33:53

Student loan debt forgiveness. Free community college. Pell Grants for short-term programs. Those are just some of the higher education issues occupying the federal policy landscape in Washingto...

Ep 80: The Evolving Conversation About Quality in Online Learning from 2022-05-04T17:54:13

Has higher education’s forced experimentation with remote learning changed how students, professors, colleges and the public view online education? And will it make them more or less likely to p...

Ep 79: Withholding Transcripts to Collect Student Debt from 2022-04-28T20:55:12

This week's episode of The Key explores why some institutions use those policies and why consumer advocates think they're pernicious, even though they're only a small fraction of the $1.7 trilli...

Ep 78: Dropping the Degree as a Hiring Requirement from 2022-04-20T14:36:43

Last month the State of Maryland announced that it would no longer require a bachelor’s degree in the hiring process for nearly half of its jobs, joining a growing number of companies and other ...

Ep 77: Turnover, Burnout and Demoralization in Higher Ed from 2022-04-14T16:07:28

Employers of all kinds are struggling to hold on to their employees in the wake of the pandemic and amid a white-hot job market. Data recently released by the University of North Carolina system...

Ep 76: Reprise | Combatting Student Cheating from 2022-04-07T17:03:25

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, student academic misconduct spiked, and an episode of The Key explored the reasons why and steps colleges and professors might take to combat it.

Th...

Ep 75: Anticipating Higher Education’s Near Future(s) from 2022-04-01T08:53:02

How has the COVID-19 pandemic and the other upheaval of the last couple of years changed the outlook for colleges, their students and their employees?

Bryan Alexander is a writer, author,...

Ep 74: Transforming Higher Ed, Live from SXSWEdu from 2022-03-24T14:42:39

“Transformation” is a buzzword in today’s world, and it’s easy to talk about why it’s necessary. But how do you actually do the hard work of bringing about change within a college or university?...

Ep 73: HBCUs Team Up to Go Digital from 2022-03-18T10:05:21

Like a lot of undergraduate-focused, smaller institutions, historically black colleges and universities typically went online selectively, sporadically – or not at all. But that’s beginning to c...

Ep 72: Why Colleges Are Hiring More Non-White Presidents from 2022-03-03T18:17:55

It only took a few decades, but colleges and universities are hiring more Black and brown presidents to lead their institutions. 

This week's episode digs into data Inside Higher Ed Listen

Ep 71: Injecting Social Mobility Into the Carnegie Classifications from 2022-02-22T09:22:35

The Carnegie Classifications are an enduring institution in higher education – but they’re about to undergo a facelift that could be dramatic.

This week’s episode of The Key explores Listen

Ep 70: The Impact of COVID-19 Learning Disruption from 2022-02-07T12:21:35

College students almost certainly lost ground academically during the pandemic. But do we know how much? And what should colleges do about it?

This week’s episode explores a free report I...

Ep 69: A Major Cross-College Collaboration from 2021-11-29T15:16:40

Colleges tend to compete rather than collaborate. That’s why a new five-college cooperative in New Mexico is so unusual.

This week’s episode explores the Collaborative for Higher Educatio...

Ep 68: Higher Ed’s Flexible Work Future from 2021-11-18T20:50:38

The era of flexible work in higher education has begun. The pandemic drastically altered our collective relationship with work in the moment, but how will faculty, staff and administrative job...

Ep 67: Community College Bachelor’s Degrees Gain Ground from 2021-11-12T08:33:18

In the last month, California enacted a law that could greatly expand the number of bachelor’s degree programs being offered by the state’s 116 community colleges. And Arizona approving legislat...

Ep 66: Enrollment Declines, No Free Community College: Higher Ed’s Rough Week from 2021-11-04T08:53:30

Are politicians and the public losing faith in higher education?

Last week delivered unwelcome news to colleges and universities. New data from the National Student Clearinghouse showed t...

Ep 65: Debating the Value of College Arts (and Other) Programs from 2021-10-28T08:32:27

Federal data now allow anyone who wishes to identify academic programs whose graduates on average earn more than enough to repay their student debt -- or don’t. As journalists and think tank ana...

Ep 64: A Struggling College’s Plea for Help from 2021-10-21T16:34:52

“Time is growing short.” That’s how Bloomfield College’s president, Marcheta P. Evans, Inside Higher Ed's news hub featuring student polling data, news and analysis to ensure that the perspective of c...

Ep. 38: Combatting Cheating in the COVID Era from 2021-02-16T16:46:29

Many colleges are seeing increases in reports of academic misconduct. In this episode, North Carolina State University’s Bradley Davis discusses a nearly three-fold increase in academic violatio...

Ep. 37: Assessing Last Fall’s Instruction, From the Faculty Perspective from 2021-02-02T14:05:44

Do professors believe their virtual teaching improved with more time to prepare? Did institutions step up their training and support for instructors? And did some students fare better than other...

Ep. 36: The Fall Enrollment Picture and Peril for Post-Traditional Students from 2021-01-19T11:09:44

This episode features Doug Shapiro, executive director of the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, and Juana Sánchez, senior associate on the HCM Strategists postsecondary team. We an...

Ep. 35: The Year in Review from 2020-12-30T18:08:07

This episode looks back at 2020 and the podcast's eight months of discussions about the impact of the pandemic on higher education and vulnerable college students.

from 2020-11-24T15:47:58

Joseph I. Castro, Fresno State's president, will become chancellor of the California State University System in January. The...

Ep. 30: The Pandemic and College Athletics from 2020-11-17T15:20:05

This year has been filled with challenges for college athletics, as programs wrestle with safety protocols, COVID-19 outbreaks, game cancellations and the elimination of some team sports amid wi...

Ep. 29: Next Steps for Competency-Based Education from 2020-11-10T12:26:14

Some experts think competency-based learning could get a boost amid the pandemic, in part because of the flexibility CBE programs offer to students.

To get the lay of the land, we spoke w...

Ep. 28: Student Anxiety and Career Exploration from 2020-11-04T11:58:42

A growing body of evidence finds high student anxiety and uncertainty about...

Ep. 27: The State of Student Transfer from 2020-10-27T15:44:37

Student transfer is down this fall, with new data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center showing the ...

Ep. 26: Financing Career College Pathways from 2020-10-20T12:38:40

As higher education faces a potential exodus of students -- particularly lower-income students who attend community colleges -- what role could creative financing play in helping students bridge...

Ep. 25: Anxiety and Isolation Among College Students from 2020-10-13T14:48:41

A growing body of research has shown that anxiety and mental health issues have become primary concerns for college students.

To get a leadership perspective on this challenge, we spoke w...

Ep. 24: Federal Policy and Part-Time Students from 2020-10-06T16:30:27

Amid fears about a possible exodus of lower-income students from postsecondary education, and community colleges in particular, what can policymakers do to help vulnerable students stay on track...

Ep. 23: The Push for a Learner Record System from 2020-09-29T14:58:30

The pandemic has brought new urgency to the creation of a learner record system, which could help students more smoothly transfer between colleges and find a job.

We spoke with worsening equity gaps Listen

Ep. 19: Growing Interest in Alternative Credentials from 2020-09-01T14:59:44

Consumers and employers increasingly are turning to short-term, online Listen

Ep. 18: The University of Arizona's Deal with Ashford from 2020-08-24T12:27:19

Earlier this month the University of Arizona announced a deal to acquire Ashford Unive...

Ep. 17: The Pandemic's Human Toll at CUNY from 2020-08-06T17:56:09

Michael Yarbrough, an assistant professor of law and society at the City University of New York's John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and his students in a senior colloquium this spring docume...

Ep. 16: Monitoring Colleges' Financial Health from 2020-07-28T16:21:42

Many colleges were facing financial pressure before the pandemic. But the crisis has exacerbated those challenges and stoked more questions about the sustainability of colleges with shaky financ...

Ep. 15: Online Learning's Outlook for the Fall from 2020-07-21T16:33:17

Many questions loom about remote learning in coming months. Will online offerings from colleges be more sophisticated? What steps need to be taken to ensure academic quality in online learning? ...

Ep. 14: Planning, Adjusting and Communicating for the Fall from 2020-07-14T12:56:10

In roughly a month, many colleges and universities are planning to welcome back students to campus-based learning. But surging COVID-19 cases across much of the country have kept college adminis...

Ep. 13: Equity and Higher Education Policy from 2020-06-30T12:50:53

The pandemic has exposed and worsened equity gaps in higher education, as its impacts have been felt most by Black, Latino and lower-income Americans. What policies and incentives could help clo...

Ep. 12: An Entrepreneurial and Global Take on the Fall from 2020-06-23T10:38:08

A steep decline in enrollments of international students is among the wide range of possible disruptions U.S. colleges face this fall. To get an entrepreneurial take on what to watch in coming m...

Ep. 11: The Pandemic's Impact on Education and Work for People of Color from 2020-06-16T21:12:59

The pandemic and unrest over racism in society have further exposed existing inequity in higher education and the workforce. For example, survey data from the Strada Education Network show that ...

Ep. 10: College Athletics and a 'Weird Fall' from 2020-06-09T17:39:01

Several colleges and universities have eliminated intercollegiate sports teams in recent weeks, just as big-time college football gears up for a season filled with uncertainty amid a time of gre...

Ep. 9: Preserving Access to Public Higher Education Amid Crises from 2020-06-02T15:24:38

The University of Alaska, Anchorage, in recent years has experienced its share of tight budgets and other crises, including an earthquake and merger proposals.

Cathy Sandeen, chancellor o...

Ep. 8: Cal State's Decision About an Online Fall from 2020-05-26T13:35:14

The California State University system announced on May 12 that its fall term would be mostly online. ...

Ep. 7: Calif.'s Community Colleges and Lessons Learned in the Last Recession from 2020-05-19T10:06:44

California has seen 3 million new unemployment claims filed in recent months, and the state proposed a $740 million budget cut to its community college system. But California's two year colleges...

Ep. 6: The Great Online Pivot and What Comes Next from 2020-05-12T08:27:12

Earlier this year, most of higher education moved its instruction online in a matter of days or weeks. After making this unprecedented shift, and amid great uncertainty, faculty members and coll...

Ep. 5: Southern New Hampshire U's Big Play with Campus-Based Learning from 2020-05-05T09:16:44

Southern New Hampshire University recently turned heads with a broad reboot of its campus-based programs, including slashed tuition and allowing students to choose hybrid online and other modali...

Ep. 4: How Community Colleges Are Planning for the Fall, and Beyond from 2020-04-28T09:07:15

The disruption and uncertainty caused by the pandemic pose challenges for all colleges and universities. But community colleges typically had tight budgets before the crisis, and serve the large...

Ep. 3: Helping Students Avoid Problems with the 'Asterisk Semester' from 2020-04-21T22:22:47

Many colleges moved to pass/fail grading amid the pandemic. While that change was designed to help students, it can cause disruptions as community college students transfer to four-year institut...

Ep. 2: What Should a Federal Jobs Bill Do? from 2020-04-16T22:11:29

Roughly 22 million Americans have filed for unemployment since the crisis began, and the estimated unemployment rate stands at 12 to 15 percent, the highest level since the Great Depression.

Ep. 1: Distributing $6.3 Billion in Emergency Aid for Students from 2020-04-14T21:37:59

Colleges and are scrambling to distribute roughly $6.3 billion from the federal government for emergency aid aimed at students whose lives and educations have been disrupted by the pandemic.