S4 Eps 2 “Tag, You’re In!” – The Rise of Direct Admissions
The anxiety-inducing college admissions game is changing – what if colleges started applying to you instead of the other way around? With declining birth rates and growing skepticism about the value of a degree, higher education is facing an enrollment cliff, set to hit hard in 2026. That’s 18 years after the Great Recession when many American families stopped having babies. As competition for students intensifies, more states desperate for workforce talent and schools dependent on tuition dollars are turning to direct admissions – a system where students receive college acceptance offers and scholarships before they even apply.In this episode, hosts Kirk Carapezza and Jon Marcus break down how we got to this point where the college admission process requires students to spend a ton of time and money with no guarantee of success. And they ask whether direct admissions is the solution colleges and students need – or just a Band-Aid on a bigger enrollment crisis.
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S4 Eps 1 The Demographic Cliff
Most Americans would probably rather forget the Great Recession that began in 2007. But as long ago as it may seem, it triggered something that is about to become a big problem: Americans started having fewer babies, and the birth rate hasn’t recovered since. That means a looming decline in the number of 18-year-olds. Since those are the traditional customers for universities and colleges, enrollment is projected to fall dramatically and campuses to close. In this episode, we tell you the surprising benefits of this for students and their parents — and the scary prospects for the economy, which will suffer shortages of workers just as baby boomers retire. Come with us to a college fair where recruiters line up to compete for applicants, and hear from enrollment consultants, economists, and the president of a school that has already closed.
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Introducing College Uncovered: Season 4 – The Demographic Cliff
College Uncovered Season 4 is coming! The first two episodes drop Thursday, April 17th. This season, we’re standing on the precipice of a “demographic cliff” threatening higher education. A drop in the number of 18-year-olds that are alive right now – triggered by a decline in birth rates after the 2008 Great Recession – is forcing colleges to rethink everything. Schools across the country are changing admissions, restructuring financial aid, rebranding the humanities, and finding new ways to recruit and educate young men, whose numbers are dropping even more precipitously on many campuses. We’ll uncover how these changes affect students, families, higher education, the economy, and our society at large.College Uncovered is hosted by Kirk Carapezza and Jon Marcus, two skilled multimedia journalists with decades of experience in covering higher education in the United States. They offer students, their families, and anyone curious about the business of college, an unvarnished look at a uniquely American system – and help you make better informed choices. New episodes of College Uncovered drop each week through May and are available wherever you listen to podcasts.
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S3 Eps 8 What Comes Next On Campus?
Throughout the 2024 presidential campaign, President-elect Donald Trump railed against colleges and universities for being too expensive, too partisan and too “woke.”Trump’s anti-elite, anti-immigration tone channeled the frustrations of many working-class Americans — and led him to a decisive win at the polls. So, with Trump returning to the White House for a second term, how much of his higher education message is rhetoric and how much is potential policy? And what comes next for students and colleges? As they wrap up this election year season, Kirk and Jon explore how college may change under a new Trump administration and ask a simple question: what comes next on campus? We hear from Michael Brickman, who worked as a senior advisor in the U.S. Education Department during Trump’s first term, and Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education, the nation’s biggest association of colleges and universities. Then, Jennifer Thornton with the Business Higher Education Forum and Maria Flynn with Jobs For the Future explain why on-the-job training through apprenticeships is one policy likely to move forward quickly in a second Trump administration.We also hear from students who backed Trump and those who fear his return to the Oval Office, including Jenson Wu with The Trevor Project, who tells us a second Trump term could have a significant impact on LGBTQ college students.
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S3 Ep 7 Abortion on the Ballot … and in the Mail
Greater Boston – a region famous for its sheer number of colleges – is also home to an underground network that helps women receive abortion pills. Every week, a group including many Boston-area college and medical students meets to put together abortion pill care packages to send to women who need them. While the founders call them “pill packing parties” the work is not without risk. Women in Texas, Mississippi and other states where abortion is illegal or restricted can be prosecuted for aborting a fetus.College students have long been active in the abortion movement, but the activism looks very different today than it did in the 1960’s. College Uncovered takes you to a “pill packing party” at an undisclosed location in Greater Boston and talks with college students mobilizing to help women get abortion medication wherever they live. We also look at the re-energized anti-abortion movement in the wake of the Dobbs ruling two years ago and hear from a leader of the “Post-Roe Generation.” GBH’s Andrea Asuaje, senior producer for “Under the Radar with Callie Crossley” hosts this week’s episode, taking a deep dive into the sweeping ways medication abortion and the Internet have changed college activism.Correction: A prior version of this episode misinterpreted Kristan Hawkins’ comments at Harvard Law School and erroneously said she had an abortion. In fact, Hawkins’ comments were referring to what other women have told her about having an abortion. We have updated the episode and GBH News regrets the error. ----------Credits:Hosts: Kirk Carapezza & Jon MarcusSupervising Editor: Megan WoolhouseEditor: Jeff KeatingExecutive Producer: Ellen London Mixing and Sound Design: David Goodman & Gary MottTheme Song and original music: Left-RomanArtwork: Matt Welch Project Manager: Meiqian HeConsulting Producer and Head of GBH Podcasts: Devin Maverick Robins"College Uncovered" is a production of GBH News and The Hechinger Report.
In a world focused on getting in, do you know what you’re getting into? College Uncovered, from GBH News in collaboration with The Hechinger Report, pulls back the ivy on American higher education, exposing the problems, pitfalls and risks — and helping you navigate them. If you wonder how college really works, subscribe now. Because it’s a real education.College Uncovered is made possible by Lumina Foundation.
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