In this episode, former Massachusetts Governor Jane Swift joins Jeff and Michael to explore how to rebuild the broken college-to-career pipeline. Now leading Education at Work, a nonprofit that provides work-based learning opportunities for undergraduates, Swift shares how her organization supports first-generation and Pell-eligible students with paid, career-relevant jobs during college. The conversation also dives into the policy vacuum left by congressional inaction, the role of states in driving innovation, and where bipartisan opportunities still exist in connecting higher education to the workforce. This episode is made with support from Ascendium Education Group and the Gates Foundation.

Handshake 2025 Annual Report

0:00 - Intro

02:57 - Fixing the College to Career Pipeline

14:48 - Building Soft Skills

17:47 - The Higher Ed Policy Vacuum

24:28 - Federal Policy Enablers for Work-Based Learning

28:06 - State Governments to the Rescue?

30:46 - The Opportunity for Bipartisanship

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With higher education policy increasingly driven by executive action, Michael and Jeff explore why Congress has been largely absent from the conversation—and what that means for students and institutions. They’re joined by James Kvaal, former Under Secretary of Education under the Biden Administration, and Preston Cooper of the American Enterprise Institute, for a bipartisan discussion about stalled reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, cuts to the Department of Education, the future of international students at American colleges, and more. This episode is made with support from the Gates Foundation.

0:00 - Intro
04:44 - The Cost of Congressional Inaction
13:28 - Unlocking Movement on Higher Ed
19:53 - Areas for Bipartisan Compromise
23:15 - The Big Change We Need
28:33 - The Impact of Cuts to the Department of Education
32:58 - Immigration and International Students
38:23 - Agreement Across the Aisle
43:55 - Changes Since the Last HEA Reauthorization
48:12 - Too Much Focus on the Elites?

In a special episode recorded at the Milken Global Institute, Jeff moderates a wide-ranging panel with higher education leaders including the presidents of Dartmouth, Stanford, UC San Diego, Yeshiva University, and the CEO of ETS. The conversation explores the crises and critiques facing higher ed—from campus protests and declining public trust to research funding and economic ROI. The leaders discuss how institutions can reaffirm their missions, serve a broader public, and restore faith in the value of a degree in an era of polarization and political scrutiny.