Proven outcomes in higher education, from the people who achieved them.
Signals in Higher Ed, hosted by Darin Francis, is a podcast focused on practical outcomes in education, featuring practitioners and administrators who share what has actually worked in their institutions. The channel gives a platform to trusted voices in higher education to discuss policy, technology adoption, and student success strategies. It serves edtech buyers, institutional leaders, and faculty looking for vetted solutions to common challenges.
Higher ed must prove workforce value through experiential learning
The channel argues that traditional credentials no longer suffice; institutions must embed real work, employer partnerships, and measurable career outcomes into the core curriculum. Evidence comes from employer surveys, enrollment trends, and case studies of institutions scaling experiential learning.
Signals in Higher Ed contends that higher education's legitimacy now rests on demonstrable workforce readiness, not degree completion alone. The channel supports this through concrete employer signals (skills gaps, hiring practices), demographic pressures (enrollment decline, demographic cliff), and working examples of institutions redesigning programs around experiential learning, apprenticeships, and employer co-creation rather than classroom-first models.
Drawn from Higher Ed's Seed Round: How Universities Decid… and 3 more →
“More than half of graduates are underemployed after finishing their degrees.”
Episode 8: If Higher Ed Wants Experiential Learning at Scale
By the numbers
What the channel argues
Who and what shows up
Fritz Andover
Director of Online Program Support Services, University of Minnesota
Laid out how universities systematically evaluate market opportunity, model enrollment, and secure funding for online programs across all five campuses.
Kristen Fox
CEO of Business-Higher Education Forum
Discussed employer-university alignment and research from NACE showing students with internships or work-based learning receive significantly more job offers and higher starting salaries.
Dr. John Rindy
Slippery Rock University
Demonstrated how regional public universities are scaling experiential learning as strategic response to enrollment pressure and labor market demands.
Jason Aubrey
Skilltrade
Showed how experiential and competency-based learning models address allied health worker shortages through faster, more affordable pathways than traditional degrees.
Kevin Harrington
CEO, Rize Education
Identified that more than 60% of college operating budgets are tied to traditional classroom models, and proposed collaborative program-sharing as alternative.
Questions this channel answers
How do universities decide which online or new programs to build and fund?
Universities evaluate market opportunity, model enrollment scenarios, align with institutional goals, and secure funding through offices like University of Minnesota's Director of Online Program Support Services, which works across all five campuses.
Higher Ed's Seed Round: How Universities Decide Which Pr… →Why are traditional internships and co-ops no longer sufficient for workforce readiness?
Many students cannot pause life to relocate or take unpaid roles due to financial constraints, family responsibilities, or work obligations. UVA and others are redesigning experiential learning to integrate into core curriculum rather than relying on external placements.
Flood the Zone: University of Virginia’s New Strategy to… →What skills do employers actually prioritize in new graduates?
Beyond technical knowledge, employers value moral courage, creative confidence, judgment, communication, adaptability, and the ability to navigate ambiguity and work across teams. These are increasingly assessed through work-based learning rather than exams.
Creative Confidence and Moral Courage: The Leadership Tr… →How can regional public universities sustain experiential learning with limited resources?
Scaling requires institution-wide strategy, not isolated programs. Slippery Rock and others embed applied learning into core curriculum, partner directly with employers on real projects, and tie student persistence to career-connected experiences.
Scaling Experiential Learning at Slippery Rock Universit… →What is driving the shift from degree-centric to competency and skills-based credentialing?
Declining confidence in four-year degree ROI, employer skills gaps, federal policy shifts like Workforce Pell tying funding to completion and placement outcomes, and urgent workforce shortages in healthcare, education, and engineering.
The Degree That Pays You Back: How Employer-Sponsored Ap… →Best place to start
Why Institution-Wide Employer Alignment Will Define the Next Era of Higher EdLays out the macro pressures (enrollment cliff, WEF reskilling demand, ROI skepticism) and argues employer alignment must be institution-wide strategy, not siloed.
Higher Ed Must Build a Talent Supply Chain to Fix Workforce ReadinessDiagnoses the core problem: traditional college-to-career pathway is breaking down, internships are declining, and employers prioritize experience; sets up the channel's entire thesis.Industry context
Higher education institutions increasingly embed work-based learning and real-world employer projects into curricula to align student outcomes with workforce demand and demonstrate career readiness.
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