Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
After about a year of battling with the Trump administration, higher-education leaders and analysts are collectively catching their breath. But this doesn’t feel like a break: The discourse around colleges and universities of late has taken on a dire tone. There’s open talk about the end of the great American research university as we know it. And no one feels fine.
Related Reading
The Unmaking of the American University (newyorker.com/magazine/2026/03/16/the-unmaking-of-the-american-university) (The New Yorker)
Some Data on College Earnings (substack.com/@bobshireman714146/p-190655518) (Bob Shireman’s Substack)
Young Graduates Face the Grimmest Job Market in Years (nytimes.com/2026/03/24/business/economy/college-graduates-job-market-hiring.html) (The New York Times)
Guest
Andy Thomason (chronicle.com/author/andy-thomason) , assistant managing editor at The Chronicle of Higher Education
For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters (chronicle.com/collegematters) . We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.
After about a year of battling with the Trump administration, higher-education leaders and analysts are collectively catching their breath. But this doesn’t feel like a break: The discourse around colleges and universities of late has taken on a dire tone. There’s open talk about the end of the great American research university as we know it. And no one feels fine.
Related Reading
The Unmaking of the American University (newyorker.com/magazine/2026/03/16/the-unmaking-of-the-american-university) (The New Yorker)
Some Data on College Earnings (substack.com/@bobshireman714146/p-190655518) (Bob Shireman’s Substack)
Young Graduates Face the Grimmest Job Market in Years (nytimes.com/2026/03/24/business/economy/college-graduates-job-market-hiring.html) (The New York Times)
Guest
Andy Thomason (chronicle.com/author/andy-thomason) , assistant managing editor at The Chronicle of Higher Education
For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters (chronicle.com/collegematters) . We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.
