EP158: Unpacking Americans views on higher education, with Sophie Nguyen of New America
Release Date: 09/25/2025
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In this episode of In The Margins, Dr. Mordecai Brownlee, host of Discovering Your Mission, sits down with Jee Hang Lee, President and CEO of the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT), for a timely and unfiltered conversation on the future of community colleges, leadership, and student success. Drawing from his journey from Capitol Hill to leading one of the most influential organizations in higher education, Lee shares a national perspective on the growing pressures facing community colleges, from funding uncertainty and political complexity to increasing competition across the...
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EP166: Meet Dr. Michael Baston, Recipient of the 2026 The EDU Ledger Champions Award
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In this episode of In The Margins, we sit down with Dr. Michael Baston, President of Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) and recipient of the 2026 EDU Ledger Champions Award, for a timely conversation on leadership, student success, and the future of community colleges. Drawing from his journey as a first-generation college student and former public interest attorney, Baston reflects on how personal experience shaped his commitment to building institutions that don’t leave students to “figure it out” on their own. He shares how community colleges serve as powerful engines of opportunity,...
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EP165: Black Woman on Board: Power, Access, and the Legacy of Claudia Hampton
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EP164: Leading Through Uncertainty: Dr. Emelyn dela Peña on Mission-Driven Higher Education
In The Margins
In this episode we sit down with Dr. Emelyn dela Peña, President and CEO of , for a timely conversation on leadership, mission clarity, and sustaining equity work in a rapidly shifting higher education landscape. Drawing from her personal journey growing up in a diverse Los Angeles community, navigating loss and economic transition, and building a decades-long career across institutions like Stanford, Harvard, and Loyola, dela Peña reflects on the formative experiences that shaped her commitment to access, belonging, and student success. She shares how moments of protest, community support,...
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EP163: From Credentials to Skills: Rethinking Opportunity in the Modern Economy, with NSC CEO Brooke DeRenzis
In The Margins
In this episode, The EDU Leger is excited to present the first in a series of content from our newest podcast partner, . Tune in as Dr. Mordecai Brownlee welcomes guest Brooke DeRenzis, CEO of the National Skills Coalition, for a wide-ranging conversation on the future of work, skills-based hiring, and the evolving role of higher education in an economy defined by rapid change. Drawing on national policy leadership and personal lived experience, DeRenzis explores why skills: technical, digital, and durable have become the foundation of economic mobility and why credentials must evolve to...
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EP162: Sustaining HBCUs Beyond the Moment: Inside UNCF’s Transformation Strategy
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In this episode of In The Margins, we are joined by Julian Thompson, Senior Director for Strategy Development, and Rev. Dr. Darryl Ann Lai Fang, Assistant Vice President for Transformation Support at the UNCF Institute for Capacity Building, for a deep dive into what long-term sustainability truly requires for HBCUs. As the institute approaches its 20th anniversary, Thompson and Dr. Lai Fang reflect on how UNCF’s work has evolved from discrete technical assistance to a holistic, networked transformation model designed to help institutions move from survival to sustained impact. Their...
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EP161: Beyond the Politics: A New Way to Talk About Equity and Access, with Dr. Kyle Reyes
In The Margins
Meet Dr. Kyle Reyes, Vice President of Institutional Advancement and former Chief Inclusion Officer at Utah Valley University, whose work sits at the intersection of student success, cultural understanding, and leadership in politically charged times. In this episode, Reyes explores his groundbreaking framework from his book . Drawing from his own lived experience as a former college dropout and first-generation student advocate, Reyes offers a powerful roadmap for navigating higher education’s most difficult conversations – especially amid national DEI rollbacks. His discussion with The...
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EP160: Investing in Native Futures: How Native Forward Is Empowering 22,000+ Scholars, with Sara LaBarge
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EP159: How the Kaplan Leadership Program Redefines Community College Transfer Success, with Nolvia Delgado
In The Margins
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EP158: Unpacking Americans views on higher education, with Sophie Nguyen of New America
In The Margins
In this episode, Sophie Nguyen, Senior Policy Manager in the Education Policy Program at New America, joins Diverse (soon to become The EDU Ledger) to unpack the findings of Varying Degrees 2025 – the latest national survey exploring how Americans view higher education. From her start as an intern to her current role leading research on affordability, accountability, and public opinion, Nguyen shares her personal journey into higher education policy and why she believes access to transformative education must be protected. She explains the survey’s biggest takeaways: cost as the...
info_outlineIn this episode, Sophie Nguyen, Senior Policy Manager in the Education Policy Program at New America, joins Diverse (soon to become The EDU Ledger) to unpack the findings of Varying Degrees 2025 – the latest national survey exploring how Americans view higher education.
From her start as an intern to her current role leading research on affordability, accountability, and public opinion, Nguyen shares her personal journey into higher education policy and why she believes access to transformative education must be protected. She explains the survey’s biggest takeaways: cost as the persistent driver of dissatisfaction, the partisan and demographic divides shaping perceptions, and the surprising common ground between Republicans and Democrats on making college more affordable.
In conversation with host Ralph Newell, she digs into the growing polarization, the challenges facing institutions, and the urgent need for colleges to reclaim the narrative, rebuild trust, and demonstrate real value to students and society.
If you’ve wondered where Americans agree, and where they sharply differ, on the future of higher ed, this discussion sheds light on the trends shaping tomorrow’s colleges and universities. Tune in and explore what the data tells us, and why it matters for the future of students, families, and the nation.
KEY POINTS:
- Nguyen’s journey from college student to Senior Policy Manager at New America
- Why transformative college experiences should be accessible to more students
- Overview of the Varying Degrees 2025 survey and its role in shaping public debate
- Key long-term trends: Americans value higher ed’s ROI but remain dissatisfied with cost
- Bipartisan concerns about affordability, accountability, and transparency in outcomes
- Where Democrats and Republicans converge [and sharply diverge] on solutions
- The outsized influence of elite institutions in shaping higher ed’s public image
- Why local colleges often enjoy more trust than “higher ed in general”
- The role of policy, institutional narrative, and support services in rebuilding public confidence
- The call for colleges: to be more transparent, proactive, and student-focused to rebuild trust
Quotes:
"New America is a think tank, a space in Washington, D.C. We work on a variety of issues, providing policy analysis, also advocacy on a variety of issues, such as domestic policy related to children, family, part of the education program."
"I think what I'm most proud of is... not in terms of any particular work, but I realized that higher ed is actually a very nimble... even though there has been criticism that it's very slow to change and adapt, but I think during my time learning about the sector, I have seen institutions that prove that they can adapt, they can grow, they can deal with the challenges that they face with and still support the students in the meantime."
"Colleges and universities now need to be more active in telling those stories—what they actually do, how they actually help students, how they actually help and support students... to be more transparent, to be able to regain public trust and public confidence."
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In The Margins is produced by The EDU Ledger and edited by EPYC Media Network (visit at https://www.epyc.co/).