Dr. Sara Goldrick-Rab unpacks her book, "Paying the Price: College Costs, Financial Aid, and the Betrayal of the American Dream" (2016). Ten years later, her book is as relevant as it was in 2016, if not more. She connects college affordability to basic needs, humane campus practice, and that small financial shortfalls can derail completion.

First of all, connect with Dr. Sara Goldrick-Rab on LinkedIn and check out her website to learn ways she can support you and your institution. During the interview, she discussed the Believe in Students #RealCollege curriculum master class resource, public speaking engagements to energize your campus, and special “office hours” to support college educators as they continue to strengthen their institution’s ability to serve better students.

Sara's LinkeIn >> https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-goldrick-rab-b086977/

Sara's website >> https://saragoldrickrab.com/

#RealCollege Curriculum >> https://realcollege.believeinstudents.org/

Key points:
• The origin story and research design behind Paying the Price
• That money shapes learning, health, relationships, and time in college
• How financial aid often gives students some support but not enough
• Food insecurity, housing insecurity, and the #RealCollege reality
• What created momentum for the #RealCollege Survey and basic needs work
• Practical examples from campuses of what worked and what didn't
• Lessons from the pandemic and why the current climate feels worse
• What higher ed must stop pretending about affordability and funding
• Resources Dr. Goldrick-Rab points people to now, including the Believe In Students Real College Curriculum Masterclass, speaking engagements, and office hours for educators

Key quote:

"College students are going through the same things that regular Americans endure every day. And that is to say that college really is about real life. I coined the phrase #RealCollege shortly after putting my book out because I was tired of people pretending that college was this magical moment where you were somehow just put in a bubble and given this glorious little experience that just separated you from everybody else.

If regular people are having trouble with dealing with inflation, then college students are having trouble dealing with inflation. If regular people are having trouble with rent, college students are having trouble with rent. If regular people are having trouble juggling not enough time in their day between childcare and transportation and their actual work and school, then that's what's happening in college too. And so it really drove home the point that college students are complicated adults with lives, just like everyone else."
- Dr. Sara Goldrick-Rab

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Anna Mills, a writing teacher at the College of Marin, discusses how A.I. changes the rules for coursework and what faculty can do about it. She maps practical ways to use A.I. for learning and feedback while naming the real risks around privacy, security, and unregulated growth.

Key points:
• What A.I. agents are and why they matter in education
• Where A.I. can help faculty with OER, accessibility, and quick learning tools
• Using A.I. for writing feedback inside a human-centered process
• Building skeptical A.I. literacy through prompting and pushback
• STEM-friendly uses such as comparing explanations and checking reasoning
• A peer plus A.I. review workflow with required reflection and metacognition
• Academic integrity as a "wicked problem" with tradeoffs not perfect fixes
• Detection as a deterrent when paired with student conversations and trust
• Course design strategies that increase intrinsic motivation and reduce outsourcing
• Communities of practice that give faculty time to learn, test, and share
• Looking toward 2030 with concerns about AGI, guardrails, and valuing the human

"I like to say, 'A.I. for input and not A.I. for output.' [For example], ask A.I. to explain its reasoning for how it solves a problem, and ask that in two different ways that are contradictory. Then, the student looks at which way makes sense. Do either of them make sense? Using A.I. in ways that push us to be skeptical of it, I think is really valuable for students, especially as it becomes more sophisticated, more plausible. We can bring value by questioning it. You want to prepare for a workplace where students are going work with A.I. You have to be suspicious of A.I. You have to be ready to push back and not accept what it gives you. I favor pedagogical applications that help students practice that and help them build some confidence in relation to A.I." - Anna Mills

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Dr. Kevin Walters, president of Allan Hancock College, discusses why the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) metrics miss the real story of community college students. He shares a clearer way using the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond data to count success that includes transfers, certificates, persistence, and the systems that help more students finish. He also unpacks strategies that have increased student success at the college.

Key points:
• Dr. Walters’ path from first-generation student to community college president
• Why IPEDS graduation rates miscount community college outcomes and why the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond data is more accurate
• Using outcome data to spark better teaching, retention, and counseling
• What unit load reveals about momentum and time-to-completion
• Promise scholarships that incentivize full-time attendance
• Auto-generated comprehensive education plans as part of guided pathways
• Performance-based funding focused on outcomes rather than rates
• Building a student-centered culture through stable leadership and teams
• Equity gains when completion efforts match the community’s demographics
• Expanding local access through Cal Poly degree offerings on the Hancock campus
• Practical take on A.I., classroom assessment, and workforce readiness

"The most exciting piece of the Richmond Fed data [as opposed to IPEDS) is our success rate is 41%. If you take that, of students that transferred, students that got a degree, students that are still there, students that got a certificate, 41% of those students. Keeping in mind that some of those students had no intention of pursuing a degree, but they were there for the first time. So 41%, that's way better than the IPEDS number--that's down in the 20% range. But it also shows we can improve." - Dr. Kevin Walthers

Continuous Learning Institute:
A resource hub for higher education professionals to support college student success. Subscribe for updates.

Student Success Podcast Homepage:
Access show notes, resources, & transcripts