It's not every day that someone goes from a college conference championship team to a top executive at Goldman Sachs to the first Black president in Temple University's 137-year history. But that describes Jason Wingard.

On this podcast, Wingard talks about the road less traveled to a university presidency, why college degrees are being devalued, and how higher education must pivot to align with workforce needs. 

Postsecondary education provides graduates with greater access to job opportunities and higher earning potential throughout their lifetimes. But higher education isn’t the only provider of communal uplift. Broadband use—inclusive broadband use—is a way for communities to prosper.

That’s why some education and equity experts want to see colleges coordinate with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to disperse the roughly $48 billion allotted toward programs that create greater digital equity.

Many historically Black colleges and universities grew out of a “separate but equal” approach to educating Black people, but the promise of equality in funding often hasn’t been honored.

The Biden administration, and previous others, have spoken to the importance of HBCUs. But students and their families need more than observances.