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 embed work and real-world learning institution-wide.
Signals in Higher Ed argues that traditional college pathways are breaking down. The channel grounds this thesis in employer data, enrollment trends, and case studies of institutions redesigning curriculum around experiential learning, apprenticeships, and career outcomes.
The channel's core argument is that higher education's isolation from the workforce has become structurally untenable. Rather than debating whether experiential learning matters, Signals in Higher Ed treats it as proven and focuses on how to scale it institution-wide, equitably, and without sacrificing academic rigor. The proof pattern is direct: employer surveys showing skills gaps, retention data linking hands-on learning to persistence, and detailed accounts of institutions already redesigning their entire educational model around career readiness.
Drawn from Scaling Experiential Learning in the Curriculu… and 3 more →
“More than half of graduates are underemployed after finishing their degrees.”
Episode 7: If Higher Ed Wants Experiential Learning at Scale
By the numbers
What the channel argues
Who and what shows up
Kristen Fox
CEO of Business-Higher Education Forum
Discusses institution-wide employer alignment as central to whether higher education prepares students for workforce realities and skills demands.
Dr. John Rindy
Slippery Rock University
Demonstrates how regional public universities are scaling experiential learning as core institutional strategy to address enrollment pressure and labor market demands.
Strada Education
Educational research and workforce platform
Research and programs highlight how structured career coaching and work-based learning close education-to-employment gaps, particularly for underserved students.
Skilltrade
Healthcare workforce platform
Demonstrates how experiential, competency-based learning bridges allied health worker shortages through employer-aligned short-cycle credentials.
Riipen
Work-based learning platform
Enables institutions to embed live employer projects directly into curriculum, scaling work-based learning across programs without relying on external internship placements.
Questions this channel answers
Why is higher education losing public confidence?
Public confidence in the ROI of a traditional four-year degree has declined significantly. Employers report graduates lack job-ready durable skills, tuition costs are rising, and many graduates face underemployment or require significant on-the-job ramp-up before becoming productive.
The Degree That Pays You Back: How Employer-Sponsored Ap… →What does the employer data actually show about graduate readiness?
Employers consistently report skills gaps among college graduates, particularly in durable skills like judgment, communication, and adaptability. Research from NACE shows students who complete internships or work-based learning receive significantly more job offers and higher starting salaries than those who do not.
Higher Ed Must Build a Talent Supply Chain to Fix Workfo… →How can institutions scale experiential learning without excluding lower-income or geographically constrained students?
Institutions like UVA are integrating experiential learning into the core academic experience through embedded employer projects and simulations, rather than relying solely on external internship placements that require relocation or time flexibility many students lack.
Flood the Zone: University of Virginia’s New Strategy to… →What role do apprenticeships and earn-while-you-learn models play in this shift?
Employer-sponsored apprenticeships are emerging as a model that addresses both the ROI skepticism and skills gap simultaneously, allowing students to earn while they learn and co-creating credentials with employers rather than requiring employers to recruit graduates.
Career-Connected Health Care: Why the Apprenticeship Deg… →How is AI reshaping entry-level work and what does that mean for higher education?
AI is reducing routine task execution in entry-level roles, making durable skills like judgment, communication, and adaptability more important. Students are using AI to enhance applications while employers struggle to distinguish candidates, creating pressure on higher education to help students demonstrate real capabilities beyond AI-polished materials.
How Business Schools Can Scale Co-op Without Losing the … →Best place to start
Higher Ed Must Build a Talent Supply Chain to Fix Workforce ReadinessStates the channel's central thesis directly: the college-to-career pipeline is broken, creating structural mismatches between what institutions teach and what employers need.
Scaling Experiential Learning in the Curriculum: How Iron Range Engineering Transformed Engineering EducationConcrete case study showing how one institution redesigned engineering education around experiential learning, alternative assessment, and employer relationships, proving scaling is possible.Industry context
Higher education institutions are undergoing fundamental recalibration of credential value and workforce alignment. Experiential and work-based learning approaches are increasingly central to how institutions prepare students for employment.
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