The Rant Podcast
A bi-weekly podcast focused on pulling back the curtain on the American higher education system and breaking down the people, the policies and the politics. The podcast host, Eloy Ortiz Oakley, is a known innovator and leader in higher education. The podcast will not pull any punches as it delves into tough questions about the culture, politics and policies of our higher education system.
Episodes
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 high school dual enrollment students an...
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 headed to the ASU GSV Summit,...
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 helping institutions modernize from...
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 systems, employers, and support services ...
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 driving a wave of practical innovation ...
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 dig into two complementary ap...
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 salary gains near $13,000, and compoun...
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 drew 650+ attendees from 2...
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 choices that matter—statewide med...
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 frustration with cost, debt...
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 now live side by side.
We di...
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, we dig into credit for prior learnin...
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 unveils surprising findings abo...
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.
Throughout our journey, we&apos...
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, universities, and most importantly, student...
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 represents over 1,700 diver...
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 that having just 2% of mes...
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 the United States, Colombia, and Keny...
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 American universities today. Chance...
The drumbeat against higher education continues to grow louder. In this revealing conversation with Janet Napolitano—former Arizona Governor, Secretary of Homeland Security under President Obama, and President of the University of California—we explore the existential threats facing America's great research universities.
Janet pulls no punches when discussing the political headwinds threatening higher ...
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