College ROI, Enrollment Shifts, and Pro-Human AI with Geoffrey Landward

And now you've

ended up as the commissioner of higher education in the state.

So it's funny, just a point on careers.

I think so often we still default to the idea that like, I'm going to school for this and then my career will follow this path.

And I think that that's the exception to the rule.

I do too.

Most of us end up where we are and go, I'm not exactly sure how I got here from where I started, but I'm glad that I just sort of meandered my way through it.

How do we help students better understand that as they start higher education? That's a great

question.

I am more and more convinced that the reason why higher education is so valuable is because the kind of skills that we're developing in students are the kind of skills that allow them to transition from occupation to occupation or career to career.

Now, yeah, there are some that are highly specialized.

But even then, like you're saying, I know plenty of doctors and others who have used that career but then moved into something else.

But the skills that they picked up in their training are still helpful.

And so what I tell people is you need to be very intentional about understanding what you're learning while you're in higher education.

You may start to question, why am I taking these general education courses? Why do I need to learn about the history of music? Or why do I need to learn about child psychology? I just want to be an engineer.

And the reason is because life takes so many different turns, your career takes so many different turns, and you cannot predict what that path is going to look like.

And you are better prepared for the turns that that path will take if you've built up a skill set that can translate into that chameleon-like quality that someone that's successful in their life can bring.

What I found is so interesting for me is I can't tell you a single day where I haven't used the skills that I learned from my training in law school in areas that have nothing to do with the law.

And I find that to be so valuable all the time, but I didn't know that I wouldn't be a lawyer.

That's just

the way you approach challenges, problems, issues, like you do it with a lawyer's mindset.

Is that what you mean?

Absolutely.

A lawyer is always trying to figure out, well, what's the issue first? Issue spotting.

Find the issue and then start working on what are the facts that we're dealing with and then how do we apply whatever it's policy, law, or anything else to solve this problem.