The Rant Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Three million calls a month is not a marketing flex. It’s a signal that higher education is moving into a new operating model, where AI can expand student support without pushing humans out of the picture. I sit down with Ruben Harris and Timor Maester, co-founders of Outrival (and previously Career Karma), to unpack what they mean by a “digital workforce” and why outbound AI agen...

Send us Fan Mail AI in higher education is everywhere right now, but most of what schools hear is theory, hype, or another vendor promise. We wanted something more concrete, so I sat down with Ruben Harris and Timur Meyster, co-founders of Outrival (and previously Career Karma), to talk about what it looks like to deploy a real “digital workforce” that supports students at scale without pushing hu...

Send us Fan Mail Most higher ed systems still treat the “typical” student like someone with a wide-open schedule and a campus life built around them. That assumption falls apart the moment you meet a working parent, a service member with deployment orders, or a community college transfer juggling rent, kids, and a job while trying to move up.  I’m joined by Dr. Mark Milliron, president of National...

Send us Fan Mail $4.4 trillion is a hard number to even picture, so we bring it down to earth. We’re unpacking new California economic impact research created with the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, focused on what happens if the state reaches 70% postsecondary attainment for working age adults with credentials that actually pay off in the labor market. Think certific...

Send us Fan Mail $4.4 trillion. That’s the projected economic opportunity California could unlock if we hit a 70% postsecondary attainment rate and do it across every community, not just in the places that already have the most options. We dig into new work created with the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, and we ask the question underneath the headline: what changes wh...

Send us Fan Mail Accreditation sounds like a backstage technicality until you realize it controls the front door to college for millions of students. If an institution loses accreditation, it can lose access to Title IV funding like Pell Grants, and that single lever can reshape who gets served, what gets taught, and what leaders feel safe saying out loud.<br><br>I’m joined by Mike Gav...

Send us Fan Mail The fastest changes in higher education are hitting the students with the least margin for error and community colleges are the ones standing in the middle of it. I sit down with Dr Anne Kress, President of Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA), to get specific about what student success looks like when you serve 76,000 learners across six campuses, including thousands of hig...

Send us Fan Mail Higher education feels like it’s moving on fast forward and the last year has been proof. We’re taking a moment to say thank you to everyone who’s watched, listened, subscribed, and helped grow The Rant Podcast across nearly 80 episodes, and then we pivot to what’s coming next as the education marketplace gets reshaped in real time. Conference season is here, and whether you’re he...

Send us Fan Mail Eloy Ortiz Oakley hosts The Rant podcast and welcomes back Laura Ipsen, CEO of Ellucian, to discuss how higher education is navigating intensified pressures around accountability, affordability, enrollment, staffing constraints, and workforce alignment. Ipsen explains that better data transparency is essential to building trust and improving outcomes, and describes Ellucian’s work...

Send us Fan Mail Host Eloy Ortiz Oakley welcomes former U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, now leading the Bipartisan Policy Center, to discuss BPC’s Commission on the American Workforce and its report, “A Nation at Risk to A Nation at Work.” They outline the need for a national talent strategy that breaks down federal silos across agencies and better aligns education, workforce syste...

Send us Fan Mail Forget the clichés about online college. We take a clear-eyed look at the University of Phoenix with CIO Jamie Smith and unpack how how the university is rebuilding around a simple rule: design for working learners by assuming school is the third priority after family and work. That shift changes everything—from the reliability of the tech stack to the tone of a nudge—and it’s dri...

Send us Fan Mail Skills without progress are just potential. We sat down with WGU Provost Courtney Hills McBeth and Calbright College President and CEO Ajita Talwalker Menon to break down how competency-based education turns learning into jobs, promotions, and lasting economic value for working adults. No hype—just practical models that measure what you can do, not how long you sat in class. We di...

Send us Fan Mail What if the ROI debate could be settled with simple math and clear outcomes? We open the year by pulling apart the “enrollment cliff” narrative and focusing on what actually moves learners forward: affordable, workforce-aligned online programs with measurable value. Our guest, Risepoint CEO Fernando Bleichmar, shares Ipsos data showing average tuition around $20,000, first-year sa...

Send us Fan Mail What if AI actually made college more human—more supportive, more accessible, and more affordable? We sat down with Arizona State University CIO Lev Gonick to unpack how agentic AI, low-code tools, and faculty communities are transforming the student journey from recruitment to graduation. Lev takes us inside “Agentic AI and the Student Experience,” a standing-room-only event that...

Send us Fan Mail A single number now threatens to define whether a program survives: does it deliver an earnings premium over a high school diploma? We sit down with Phil Hill to unpack how federal accountability just shifted from dashboards to consequences, why the current metric is misaligned with how real labor markets work, and what leaders must fix before 2026. We break down the design choice...

Send us Fan Mail Trust in college is slipping, yet the desire for opportunity is stronger than ever. We dig into that tension and lay out a clearer path forward: build programs around working learners, publish honest numbers, and align skills with jobs so students see—and feel—real value. We unpack fresh survey findings showing that Americans still view higher education as a path to mobility, but...

Send us Fan Mail Americans still believe a college education opens doors, but patience is running out for a system that too often feels overpriced, inflexible, and out of touch. We sit down with New America’s Sophie Nguyen to unpack the Varying Degrees 2025 survey and what the data really says about confidence, cost, and the changing needs of working learners. The headline: value and frustration n...

Send us Fan Mail What does it look like when a “global campus” is truly global—and built for working learners from the ground up? We sit with UMGC president Dr. Greg Fowler to trace a line from faculty boarding planes after WWII to teaching through evacuations, tsunamis, and base alerts, all while keeping one promise: meet students where they are and prove value with real outcomes. Along the way,...

Send us Fan Mail Season four of the Rant Podcast kicks off with a deep dive into educational value and economic mobility. Host Eloy Ortiz-Oakley welcomes returning guest Michael Itzkowitz to discuss their groundbreaking "Golden Returns" report examining which California community colleges and certificate programs deliver the strongest financial returns for students. The conversation unve...

Send us Fan Mail 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. Thro...

Send us Fan Mail The higher education landscape is undergoing a profound transformation, with a new focus on measuring value and ensuring economic mobility for students. In this revealing conversation with Kelly McManus, Vice President of Higher Education at Arnold Ventures, we explore the reconciliation bill currently moving through Congress and its far-reaching implications for colleges, univers...

Send us Fan Mail The American higher education system stands at a crossroads, facing unprecedented challenges that threaten its very foundation. In this revealing conversation, Eloy Ortiz Oakley sits down with Ted Mitchell, President of the American Council on Education (ACE), to discuss how colleges and universities across the country are responding to these threats. Mitchell, whose organization...

Send us Fan Mail What happens when artificial intelligence meets human connection? Magic, according to Andrew (Drew) Magliozzi, CEO and co-founder of Mainstay. In this eye-opening conversation from the ASU GSV Summit, Drew reveals the surprising secret behind effective AI in education: human involvement. After a decade of deploying conversational AI to support college students, Mainstay discovered...

Send us Fan Mail Ellie Bertani, CEO of GitLab Foundation, revolutionizes philanthropy with a data-driven approach that puts measurable economic impact at the center of every grant decision. This eye-opening conversation reveals how GitLab Foundation aims to generate at least $100 in increased earnings for every dollar they invest – a "North Star 100X goal" that guides their work across t...

Send us Fan Mail When higher education comes under attack, who stands up to defend its core mission? In this compelling conversation, Chancellor John King of the State University of New York brings his unique perspective as a former high school teacher, Secretary of Education under President Obama, and leader of a major education advocacy organization to address the most pressing challenges facing...