The Signal

What if a college degree required not just passing classes—but launching a real business?

In this episode, host Jeff Dillon sits down with Jeff Meade, Founding Director of Entrepreneurship at Paul Quinn College, where "Every Quinnite Is an Entrepreneur" isn't a slogan—it's a graduation requirement. Every student, regardless of major, must start and launch a venture before they leave campus.

Jeff brings over 20 years of agency and consulting experience to higher ed, and he's using that builder mindset to reimagine what a college education can produce. He shares the story of the hike in Japan that led him to ask "what makes me happy?"—and how that question pulled him out of a successful consultancy and into the classroom.

The conversation covers Paul Quinn's venture-based learning model, a six-week boot camp where students identify problems, pitch solutions, and then build real businesses with real stakes. Jeff explains how securing six-figure seed funding changed the way students show up—turning dreams into tangible ventures. He also introduces the concept of acquisition entrepreneurship, where the college itself is exploring equity partnerships in businesses to diversify revenue streams and give students hands-on operating experience.

For any institutional leader wondering if this model could work beyond Paul Quinn, Jeff offers a practical path: culture starts at the top, and you need people who see the world differently. This is a must-listen for anyone who believes higher ed must do more than teach theory—it must create value. 

Key Takeaways

Every Student Must Launch a Business to Graduate: At Paul Quinn, entrepreneurship isn't an elective or a major—it's a graduation requirement for every student, regardless of their field of study. The goal is to help students think and act like entrepreneurs in any career they pursue. 

Venture-Based Learning Has Real Stakes: Unlike traditional entrepreneurship courses that end with a graded pitch, venture-based learning requires students to actually go to market. Students must talk to real customers, face rejection, and pivot. That experience is often harder—and more valuable—than getting an A. 

Real Money Changes Student Mindset: Paul Quinn secured six-figure funding for a student seed fund. When students know there's actual capital behind their ideas, they dream bigger and take the work more seriously. A $5 sale can feel like a breakthrough when it leads to an investment. 

Technology Must Reduce Friction, Not Add It: Supporting hundreds of students launching real businesses requires a different tech stack. Paul Quinn partnered with Canoo to create a marketplace where students can display and sell products or services—eliminating the heavy lift of building a website from scratch. 

Partnerships Start with Shared Values: Paul Quinn's goal is to eradicate intergenerational poverty. That mission attracts partners like Babson, Wharton, and the Sean Carter Foundation—not because of fancy pitches, but because they see the world the same way. Find people who share your vision and start a conversation. 

Acquisition Entrepreneurship: A New Frontier: Beyond starting businesses, Jeff is exploring acquisition entrepreneurship—helping students acquire and operate existing small businesses. The college is also exploring equity partnerships to diversify its own revenue streams while giving students hands-on operating experience. 

Bring Companies in Early and Often: Jeff argues that higher ed doesn't involve companies soon enough. But the ask doesn't have to be big—invite executives to a roundtable, host a lunch, bring them into a clas...

Chapters

(00:00:00) - What's the Toughest Part of Starting a Business?
(00:00:39) - This college is reimagining what a college degree is actually supposed
(00:02:01) - Paul Quinn College Alumnus on Why He Pivot
(00:05:39) - What Does a Student's Journey to Starting a Venture
(00:10:14) - How to Launch a Business on Campus
(00:14:35) - In expanding access to entrepreneurship education
(00:16:49) - The Future of Learning: Technology in Higher Education
(00:24:35) - Higher Ed's Future of Venture-based Learning
(00:28:47) - Paul Quinn College's Vision for Venture Based Learning
(00:32:00) - The Signal: Higher Ed Tech Podcast

What if the biggest barrier to enrollment growth isn't your marketing budget—but your program portfolio itself?

In this episode, host Jeff Dillon sits down with Elysia Labita, Executive Director of Portfolio Strategy and Marketing at EdPlus at Arizona State University. Over the past decade, Elysia has helped scale ASU Online from roughly four programs to more than 400, serving over 118,000 students. She brings a provocative and practical lens to one of higher ed's most uncomfortable conversations: programs are products.

Elysia explains why "if you build it, they will come" is a dangerous myth, and why great intentions don't create demand. She shares how her team uses funnel data, market signals, and program life cycle analysis to make decisions about what to launch, modernize, or sunset—without alienating faculty. She also offers a guide to having difficult conversations about underperforming programs, using data not as a weapon but as a tool to uncover systemic friction.

From the insight that high-enrolling campus programs consistently become high-enrolling online programs, to the revelation that AI is most valuable as a listening tool rather than a content generator, this episode is packed with actionable frameworks for any institutional leader trying to build a healthier, more sustainable academic portfolio.

 

Key Takeaways

Great Intentions Don't Create Demand: Marketing can't out-optimize misalignment. If a program isn't positioned correctly, if the value proposition isn't clear, or if demand simply doesn't exist, no amount of ad spend will fix it. The problem isn't marketing—it's the portfolio. 

Programs Are Products—And That's Not a Dirty Phrase: When Elysia says "programs are products," she's not saying education is a commodity. She's acknowledging that students have more ways to learn than ever. The question institutions must answer is: what unique value do we bring? It's not the information—it's the faculty, the research, the credibility, the mentorship, and the outcomes. 

Online Students Were Never Going to Relocate: The fear that online programs will cannibalize campus enrollment is misplaced. Online students are working adults, parents, military, or place-bound. The question isn't whether they'll choose online over campus—it's whether they'll have access to higher education at all. 

High-Enrolling Campus Programs Become High-Enrolling Online Programs: This pattern has held so consistently at ASU that it's the strongest signal Elysia looks for. Those students aren't waiting to come to campus—they're waiting for access. 

Not Every Program Has the Same Job: Roughly 40% of programs drive about 80% of enrollment. That doesn't mean the other 60% should be cut. Some programs are growth engines; others are mission programs serving specific community needs. Understanding each program's role in the portfolio changes how you resource and market it. 

Programs Follow Life Cycles: The first couple of years show explosive growth (capturing pent-up demand), then level off, then plateau or decline. Institutions that assume 200% growth will continue often over-hire faculty and over-plan budgets. Setting realistic expectations early prevents panic later. 

Before Sunsetting, Try Modernizing: Most underperforming programs aren't dead—they're outdated. Sometimes it's a single course refresh, a repositioned career list, or updated degree description. Only after trying incremental fixes should institutions move to sunsetting conversations. 

AI's Real Power Is Listening, Not Generating: At ASU, the bi...

Chapters

(00:00:00) - The Signal: Portfolio Strategy and Marketing
(00:01:49) - Getting it out there: How to grow a degree
(00:03:49) - WSJD Live: ASU Online's Scale
(00:07:25) - Programs are products: The future of higher ed
(00:15:03) - Program Life Cycle, Reinvestment
(00:17:38) - How to Fix Program Misalignment
(00:24:33) - New Programs Needed to Enhance Current Programs
(00:27:15) - How AI is changing the way we do portfolio strategy
(00:29:15) - Alicia On Higher Ed: The Future
(00:30:43) - The Signal: Higher Ed Tech Insights

What if the biggest barrier to student success isn't ability—but the belief that effort is even worth it?

In this episode, host Jeff Dillon sits down with Dave Tucker, founder and CEO of Genio, a learning technology company that's been quietly transforming how students study, learn, and persist for nearly two decades. What started as an assistive note-taking tool for students with dyslexia has evolved into a platform used by over 900 institutions worldwide, supporting more than 160,000 learners—including first-generation students, working adults, veterans, and neurodivergent learners.

Dave shares the company's origin story: creating a visual interface for lecture recordings so students wouldn't have to re-listen to hours of audio. But along the way, he discovered something deeper—the "note taker's dilemma," the cognitive overload of trying to capture information while simultaneously processing it, and the devastating impact of students internalizing failure as a personal flaw.

The conversation covers Genio's recent independent research showing a 3.6% GPA increase and a 28% reduction in dropout rates, the company's ESSA Level 3 validation, and Dave's thoughtful, cautious approach to AI. He argues that the real opportunity lies not in replacing effort but in scaffolding the learning process—capture, organize, refine, apply—so that students develop the confidence and skills to learn independently.

For any enrollment leader, dean of students, or ed tech decision-maker trying to separate genuine impact from marketing noise, this episode offers a grounded, evidence-informed perspective on what actually moves the needle for student success.

 

Key Takeaways

Learning Is a Process, Not an Event: Genio's framework—capture, organize, refine, and apply—scaffolds the entire learning journey, helping students move from simply recording information to truly synthesizing and applying it. Understanding this process is the foundation of effective study.

The "Note Taker's Dilemma" Is Real: Students struggle to capture information while simultaneously understanding it. Recording lectures and creating a visual, interactive interface allows them to focus during class and engage deeply afterward—reducing cognitive overload and wasted effort.

Small Interventions Can Be Life-Changing: Dave shares the story of a community college student who thought she was "stupid" until she used Genio and realized she wasn't the problem—the environment was. Simple tools that address core friction points can transform a student's self-belief and trajectory.

Confidence Is the Real Product: If students don't believe that effort will pay off, they won't invest it. The goal of learning technology should be to build self-efficacy and agency—not just to deliver content faster.

Trust Is Built Over Time, Not Through Claims: Independent research, student testimonials, research partnerships, and consistency all contribute to trust. The question isn't just "does it work?" but "does this company have the best intentions for learning?"

Accessibility Should Be Built In, Not Bolted On: Accessibility is not about compliance checkboxes—it's about access to the learning process itself. When done well (like the iPhone's built-in accessibility features), it benefits everyone, not just a subset of users.

Learner-Centered Design Is the Future: Higher education has traditionally been teaching-centric, focusing on pedagogy and classroom design. But most learning happens outside the classroom, through independent study. The biggest opportunity is designing tools that support learners in those environments.

Good Learning Is Effortful—But It Doesn't Have to Be Wasteful: Like going to the gym, learning requires struggle. But w...

Chapters

(00:00:00) - The Fix to Student Academic Struggles
(00:00:44) - Meet Dave Tucker Diaz
(00:02:29) - Genio: The Story of Note Taking
(00:07:54) - Quora's Core Learning Process: Capture, Organize, Ref
(00:09:31) - Genio: The accessibility of learning
(00:13:22) - How Genio Stabilizes its Learning System
(00:15:34) - Genio on the Relationship between Technology and Student Success
(00:22:01) - ADvocacy on Accessibility
(00:24:54) - The EdTech market's focus on learning science
(00:28:57) - ESSA Level 3 validation and more
(00:31:01) - Higher Ed: The Future of Learning and Support

Your traffic is down. Your inquiries are flattening. But your applications haven't dropped. What's happening? The front door just moved—and most higher ed marketers haven't noticed.

In this episode, Jeff Dillon welcomes Paula French, Director of Sales and Marketing at Search Influence, a digital marketing agency with more than 16 years of experience helping institutions stay visible online. Paula co-authored a groundbreaking study with UPCEA titled AI Search in Higher Education: How Prospects Search in 2025, and the findings are reshaping how colleges should think about discovery, trust, and ROI.

Paula shares the data: one in three prospects now trusts AI tools for program search, 79% are reading Google's AI overviews, and more than half say they trust institutions cited there. But here's the catch—those prospects are showing up to your website already informed, which means they never registered as a click or an inquiry. The metrics marketers have relied on for two decades are breaking down.

The good news? AI has the power to connect students with niche programs in ways Google never could. Paula walks through real examples—including how Tufts University recovered lost traffic by optimizing for AI—and offers a practical six-month playbook for institutions with limited budgets. She also tackles the hard questions: Where should you focus when you're spread thin? How do you measure success when the funnel is no longer a funnel? And why Q&A sections might be the "easy button" for AI visibility.

For any enrollment marketer, digital strategist, or institutional leader trying to make sense of a post-AI search landscape, this episode is required listening.

Key Takeaways

AI Search Is Mainstream, Not Fringe: One in three prospects now trusts AI tools for program search, and 50% are using AI as part of their search process. This isn't early adoption anymore—it's the new normal.

79% of Prospects Are Reading Google's AI Overviews: And more than half say they trust institutions cited in those overviews. If your institution isn't being cited, you're not even in the consideration set.

Your Traffic Will Drop—But That Doesn't Mean Interest Dropped: Prospects are showing up to your website already informed. They never registered as a click or an inquiry. Marketers who rely on top-of-funnel metrics alone will panic unnecessarily.

AI Search Is SEO Plus, Not a Replacement: Everything you're doing for organic search helps AI visibility, and everything you do for AI helps organic rankings. It's a layering effect, not a channel shift.

Focus on 1–5 Programs: Spreading yourself thin across dozens of programs is a losing strategy. Institutions that focus on a small set of programs, build a repeatable playbook, and execute consistently will see movement much faster.

Consistency Across Channels Creates Patterns AI Can Read: If you talk about a program four different ways across your website, LinkedIn, and YouTube, AI will have a blurry picture. If you say the same thing consistently, AI learns to repeat it back to users.

The Tufts Example: Recovering Traffic Through AI Optimization: Tufts recovered lost traffic by (1) writing content more directly for AI with clear program descriptions at the top of the page, and (2) adding detailed Q&A sections that answered the nuanced questions prospects are asking AI engines.

Q&A Is the "Easy Button" for AI Visibility: When you write in Q&A format, you're forced to get detailed about what prospects are actually asking. AI engines expect that level of detail now—high-level content won't cut it.

AI Can Connect Niche Programs That Google Never Could: People are now having highly specific, conversational search...

Chapters

(00:00:00) - The Signal: How AI Is Affecting Colleges and Universities
(00:01:54) - How Long Have You Been at Search Influence?
(00:04:17) - How Higher Ed Became a Focus for Search Influence
(00:07:09) - How AI Search in Higher Ed Will Affect Universities
(00:17:09) - How Tufts University Salvaged Organic Traffic with AI Search
(00:23:48) - Higher Ed Marketing: How to Improve Your Outreach in AI Search
(00:27:24) - How to Quantify Student Experience in a Digital World
(00:29:57) - A Taste of AI in Student Search
(00:30:57) - The Signal: Higher Ed Tech Insights

After nearly 20 years watching colleges pour millions into sameness—the same viewbooks, the same home page videos, the same taglines—Mallory Willsea has a message for higher ed: stop mistaking activity for strategy.

In this episode, Jeff Dillon sits down with Mallory, a strategist and consultant who has been shaping digital marketing in higher ed since the early days of social media. From her early experiments with YouTube recruitment videos at St. Michael's College to co-founding Higher Ed Icons and hosting the Higher Ed Pulse Podcast, Mallory brings a rare longitudinal view of what actually works—and what doesn't.

Mallory argues that the real enemy isn't polish; it's sameness. When every institution claims to "develop the whole student" without showing what the chemistry department actually does at 9 a.m. on a Tuesday, trust erodes. The fix? Specificity. Real people. Proof behind the claims.

She also tackles the AI shift head-on, warning that SEO strategies from 2019 are no longer enough when students start their search in ChatGPT, Reddit, or AI overviews. She urges institutional leaders to audit where their audience is actually finding information—and to accept that they no longer control the front door.

Packed with stories , practical advice on building executive visibility on LinkedIn, and a sharp critique of how higher ed confuses outputs with outcomes, this episode is a must-listen for any marketer, enrollment leader, or ed tech founder trying to cut through the noise.

Key Takeaways

Activity Is Not Strategy: Many colleges measure their teams on how busy they are (outputs) rather than whether they changed a prospective student's mind (outcomes). Confusing the two keeps institutions spinning their wheels.

Sameness Is the Real Enemy, Not Polish: The problem with higher ed marketing isn't that it's too polished. It's that every viewbook, video, and campaign hits the same beats. Authenticity comes from specificity—real people, real proof, and a real point of view.

The Featherstone University Lesson: When Colorado Mesa University launched "Featherstone University" as a parody admissions campaign, it made waves because it wasn't hitting the same beats as everyone else. It had a perspective.

Stop Solving for the Institution: Too much institutional digital media is designed to make internal stakeholders comfortable, not to help a prospective student make a decision. Know which decision the student is making and at what stage—and show up accordingly.

Give a Stage to the People No One Is Asking: Yes, student takeovers are common. But what about the faculty member doing interesting research? The facilities worker who flips the switch on the holiday lights? Their pride and stories humanize an institution in ways no drone video ever can.

AI Search Has Changed the Front Door: The homepage is no longer the front door. Students start in AI overviews, ChatGPT, TikTok, Reddit, and Claude. SEO strategies from 2019 are insufficient. Audit where AI is pulling information about your institution (Reddit, YouTube transcripts, review platforms) and show up there.

Not Showing Up Is Also a Choice—With Bigger Consequences: Institutional leaders who avoid LinkedIn or public platforms because it feels risky are making a choice with consequences. Start small: one post a week about something specific you're thinking about. Consistency builds findability and recognition.

If No One Disagrees With You, You Probably Don't Have a Perspective: Conflict is a tenant of storytelling. Disagreement moves us forward faster. If no one is pushing back on your ideas, they're probably not that interesting.

Brand Shortens the Trust Curve: Brand awareness isn't separate from conver...

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Brand and Digital Strategy in Higher Education
(00:00:51) - Mallory Willsie on Higher Ed Pulse
(00:01:54) - How St. Michael's College Changed Higher Ed Marketing Media
(00:04:06) - What's the Biggest Gap Between Colleges and Digital Marketing?
(00:06:10) - What's Authentic Digital Strategy in Higher Ed?
(00:08:07) - Higher ed icons: A celebration
(00:11:21) - Five Quick Wins for Your Digital Presence
(00:17:34) - The Fight for Diversity
(00:18:04) - The Need to Build a Personal Platform
(00:20:11) - What's The Next Big Thing in Higher Ed?
(00:24:06) - Brand Authority and Converting Students
(00:26:11) - What's the Right Way to Approach AI in Higher Ed?
(00:29:26) - Jeff Stoner on Higher Ed Live:
(00:30:54) - The Signal: Higher Ed Tech Insights