Hosted by American Council on Education · 🇺🇸 US · EN · 159 episodes
Established thought leaders with verified media credentials.
Each episode of dotEDU presents a deep dive into a major public policy issue impacting college campuses and students across the country. Hosts Mushtaq Gunja, Jon Fansmith, and Sarah Spreitzer lead you through thought-provoking conversations on topics such as Department of Education policy, college costs and affordability, and more.
American Council on Education hosts dotEDU: Higher Education Policy Explained, a education show with 159 episodes published.
Yale University's Committee on Trust in Higher Education spent a year examining the forces behind declining public confidence in colleges and universities and came back with 20 recommendations for how institutions can re
Show notesThe landscape for federal TRIO programs has shifted dramatically since we talked about it in January. The Department of Education (ED) has issued new grant proposals that would cut the number of programs by more than hal
Show notesColleges have spent years building systems to help students vote. Now a mix of federal guidance, investigations, and state-level changes is putting new pressure on that work. ACE General Counsel Peter McDonough joins us
Show notesThe hosts are joined by ACE's Emmanual Guillory to break down key federal rulemaking shaping student aid. The conversation focuses on the latest developments in graduate loan limits, new rules for Workforce Pell and what
Show notesAt ACEx2026 in Washington, DC, the dotEDU team recorded a special live episode during a session at the ACE Annual Meeting. Instead of the usual format, hosts Mushtaq Gunja, Sarah Spreitzer, and Jon Fansmith took turns po
Show notes
The hosts run a rapid-fire policy lightning round on the biggest higher ed issues right now, from federal funding and a looming Pell shortfall to new graduate loan limits. They also dig into two fast-moving flashpoints:
Show notesThe national conversation about higher education shifted dramatically in 2025. In this episode recorded in Boston in December, Jon Fansmith and Mushtaq Gunja talk with GBH News correspondent Kirk Carapezza about the repo
Show notesQuestions about the future of federal TRIO programs—academic and support services for low-income, first-generation, and disabled students—come up more than almost any other topic on the podcast. We're joined this week by
Show notesValerie Fuller, president of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, visited the podcast to talk about how new federal loan limits will change what graduate students can borrow and why nursing may no longer be c
Show notesIn this final episode of 2025, hosts Mushtaq Gunja, Sarah Spreitzer, and Jon Fansmith spend the hour taking questions on the policy shifts and challenges campuses are watching most closely and the developments expected t
Show notesThe dotEDU hosts look back at a year that reshaped higher education in ways few expected back in January. Mushtaq, Sarah, and Jon talk through their top five stories of 2025, including the push to dismantle the Departmen
Show notesFor International Education Week, Sarah and Jon talk with Dr. Jud y th Sachs, c hief a cademic o fficer at Studiosity , about the pressures students face across borders—well-being, finances, language, and the challenge o
Show notesThe One Big Beautiful Bill may have made headlines but now comes the hard part: writing the rules. In this episode of dotEDU , we unpack the Education Department's massive regulatory to-do list, from loan caps and profes
Show notesThe Trump administration's "Compact for Academic Excellence" faces near-universal rejection from the nation's leading universities , even as the White House continues to look for takers. Hosts Mushtaq Gunja, Jon Fansmith
Show notesThe Trump administration's proposed "Compact for Academic Excellence" lands on nine campuses with vague perks and 23 demands, including tuition freezes, international caps, and "viewpoint diversity" audits. Hosts Mushtaq
Show notesThe Trump administration is cutting off or moving funding for TRIO, GEAR UP, and MSI programs—even though Congress approved the money. Hosts Mushtaq Gunja, Jon Fansmith, and Sarah Spreitzer explain what's happening, why
Show notesdotEDU is back for Season 7 with an examination of President Trump's demand for admissions data by race and sex and what that means for campuses. Hosts Mushtaq Gunja, Jon Fansmith, and Sarah Spreitzer—joined by ACE's Hir
Show notesAt the six-month mark of the Trump administration, the dotEDU Live hosts take stock of the landscape for colleges and universities. Kicking off with big-picture questions about how colleges can stay mission-focused and w
Show noteshttps://carnegieclassifications.acenet.edu/ The One Big Beautiful Bill is now law, and colleges are facing a wave of new policies with real consequences for students and campuses. Mushtaq Gunja, Jon Fansmith, and Sarah S
Show notesHosts Jon Fansmith, Sarah Spreitzer, and Mushtaq Gunja dig into the Senate's reconciliation bill and what it means for colleges and students—student loan limits, endowment taxes, accountability rules, and more. They also
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dotEDU: Higher Education Policy Explained is hosted by American Council on Education. The show is categorised under education (business) and has published 159 episodes.
dotEDU: Higher Education Policy Explained has published 159 episodes.
dotEDU: Higher Education Policy Explained regularly covers education, business, non-profit. It sits in the education category, with a business focus.
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dotEDU: Higher Education Policy Explained hasn't explicitly signalled guest openness in recent episodes. That doesn't rule out pitching. your hook just needs to be especially compelling and relevant to their recent content.
Episodes of dotEDU: Higher Education Policy Explained average 59 minutes. a focused format where a clear narrative arc and tight preparation matter most.
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