In a consumer era of higher education, the traditional ways of engaging and retaining students won’t work, contends the president of Lindenwood University. 

In this interview, John Porter discusses why institutions need to think of students as customers, what it takes to create a lifelong learning model, and how microcredentials and continuing education divisions can help shape this new vision. 

Thomas K. Hudson grew up in Jackson, Mississippi, where he attended and graduated from Jackson State University in 1999. Today, he is the institution's president.

On this podcast, Hudson talks about the unconventional path to the presidency of his alma mater, plans for JSU, and the critical need for Historically Black Colleges & Universities to be at the forefront of today's academic landscape.

Photo: Rahim Fortune

If colleges have been among the most disrupted institutions during the pandemic, they have also been centers of hope and resilience. At Prairie View A&M University, some of that optimism has been magnified by a $50 million donation from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.

The president of Prairie View, Ruth Simmons, is using the money for initiatives to reignite the campus, including the opening a center for race and justice and reserving $10 million for a grant program from which some students are already benefiting.