# data[].attributes.body
I really wonder about the widespread acceptance of the term ROI in higher ed circles. It isn't that I don't get where it comes from, of course: tuition costs are outrageous in every kind of institution. But when we unreflectingly accept the use this term, taken from the world of finance and business, I wonder what gets obscured. For one thing, we are implicitly accepting the commodification of the college degree. But a college degree is not a car, a washing machine, a house. And even if we take ROI as a term, any investment entails temporality: your car is going to depreciate, you hope your 401K grows. I think one thing that this book highlights, in fact, is that a version of "ROI thought" is what underwrites the imagined equivalence between "major" and "job/career."

# data[].attributes.body
Helping students understand, from as early as middle school, that education = choice and opportunity and that education comes in a variety of forms (not just academic book learning) is important. Focusing on helping students piece together various learning opportunities as it contributes to their field of study/vocational interest instills ROI on all learning as everything has a "cost" and it is their choice on whether to engage or not. The earlier we can help build this understanding, the more students will enter post secondary college and career training and beyond with a mind set that will contribute to their personal success. And it is vital that conversations to make connections between a student's interests and potential learning opportunities are a focus of our work.

# data[].attributes.body
The ROI of each student is going to be different depending on a variety of variables: culture, personal values, goals, etc. ROI isn't always the job you land and the money you make. Finding ways to explain the ROI that individuals see from their educational experience can help inform the overall narrative surrounding higher ed.

# data[].attributes.body
There is an element of privilege inherent in this if colleges and universities aren't also engaging in the discussion. Under-resourced students don't have the luxury of time and money to throw at a plan that doesn't align with the requirements of the institution they're attending - and all too often those requirements are unknown or misunderstood by the general public.

For example: a common pathway for low-income students is to start with college in the schools, postsecondary enrollment option, etc. to gain credits while in high school. All too often, the extra work students put in during high school in an attempt to 'get ahead' leave them with no benefit as the credits don't transfer to their next school. Robust transfer policies need to be considered to make this approach as transformational as it has the potential of being.

In addition, colleges require too many specific courses - Math is a good example. College Algebra is a required course for nearly all college degrees. How can we think differently about meeting that college level math class requirement with a variety of options for students (especially those who hate math) to choose from? Business math, personal finance, etc. is something that would likely provide a clear connection for students, be more interesting (even to those who hate math) and be more engaging. So many adults I talk to would return to college to pursue their dreams except for "I couldn't pass the math class".

These are important things for higher education to consider both from an enrollment standpoint and in regard to student success. Higher ed can't rely on the traditional student for much longer - to offer true opportunity for lifelong learning that will continue to have students enrolling, these practical issues need to be considered by the systems that issue the credentials.

# data[].attributes.body
One of the observations made in our breakout group was that many students are already "hacking" college, finding creative ways to make it through faster (getting a lot of college credit in high school, for example) or at less cost (taking lib ed requirements at community colleges before transferring to 4 year schools) or with greater relevance (taking interdisciplinary degrees that allow for more flexibility.) We need to learn from our students how they are "hacking" college and make it easier for them and others to do so.

# data[].attributes.body
To answer your question, Josh, if you were K-12 admin, you would institute an age-related Human Ecology program — three hours/week for every year to acquire the life knowledge and skills needed today before transitioning to adulthood. Graduates would then be able to function competently and independently in this society, able to focus on professional growth. See my website: HumanEcologyEdu.com, and note the blog entry, Bachelor Living, So Cool. It was a life and living course on speed dial for men who had no clue how to care for themselves. I also sent them all through the five interest & aptitude tests and coached them in applying the information. Few ever dropped out, and I received notes from them for years as they made good.

# data[].attributes.body
Sandra Ericson

It will always be difficult to help ‘students’ become productive if they are thought of as students and it is about college. Students are people first, whole or not, and colleges first need to determine if the people in their educational system know how to live independently yet. It is a basic test of agency, what motivates people to finish what they start. College education has two parts, personal and professional. Personal is usually MIA, but must come first — educate for that via a Human Ecology program; for so many people, it is terrorizing to try to navigate this society — so they give up. With the knowledge and skills to live, professional education speeds along!

# data[].attributes.body
I work at the NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Study, a small, interdisciplinary liberal arts college within New York University where students work closely with faculty advisers to design a unique program of study tailored to their own interests and goals. We have a core curriculum of interdisciplinary Gallatin courses that students combine with courses from across the 10 undergraduate schools at NYU in ways that are unique to each student. Gallatin students are also encouraged to couple their coursework with experiential learning opportunities like internships, independent studies, independent research, and study away opportunities. So, in essence, all of our students are ‘hacking college’ by design! And we've been doing it this way since 1972, so we have a lot of experience engaging in this kind of meaningful work with students. I am currently the Director of Enrollment Management at Gallatin, but I'm also faculty and teach courses in Film and Media Studies and Visual Culture. Working with Gallatin students is a true pleasure because they are actively engaged and invested in their own educational journey. Given that both faculty and students are working on questions and in ways that cross disciplines, our students also become accustomed to thinking about things from multiple perspectives, open to collaborating with people whose ideas are different than their own, and adept at communicating with folks from many different fields. As we all know, these are all increasingly valuable skills in the world beyond higher ed. It is so exciting to see people getting excited about these ideas and everyone in this learning community from Gallatin is eager to learn from and share with everyone in this group!

# data[].attributes.body
Empowering students to take a larger role in their own journey by asking probing questions - and quieting the voices of parents, society, social media, etc. - is really critical. We need individuals who can think creatively and differently. What worked for us in the 1900's won't work where we are headed, broadly speaking.

# data[].attributes.body
In our breakout session the idea of soft skills came up over and over. No real mention of expertise in an area, which is what the college experience is in some measure intended to impart. So it's almost ironic that we focus on degree completion but find that employers are really(?) looking for those soft skills, perhaps including how to use AI (not the subject of most of our courses currently).

How do the disciplines we teach and the programs we administer connect with this emphasis on soft skills? This viral post from Axios is pretty chilling: https://www.axios.com/2025/05/28/ai-jobs-white-collar-unemployment-anthropic

With the implication that major = job (which as the book notes is a view too often found at our schools), we are perhaps responding to changing perceptions of college, and so the purpose of "general ed" is missed which is to provide the mental furniture needed for a truly human life.

Perhaps our priorities, in light of the "expertise" AI can give us instantly, should be more on Gen Ed (I teach at a California community college and so have a horse in this race) rather than technical knowledge in our major? Asking for a friend... 😃

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Behind the Curtain: Top AI CEO foresees white-collar bloodbath

# data[].attributes.body
In our group, I talked about how advising changed at my school over the last 10 years. Faculty used to serve as advisors, and those meetings were crucial to creating relationships and uncovering "hidden intellectualism." But then the state of Indiana passed a law that we needed to use Degree Works and create and maintain each advisee's four year plan. When this software was introduced in a department meeting, faculty quickly saw that those deep conversations with advisees we all loved would become data-entry sessions. The university hired a legion of professional advisors who had much better knowledge of the university curriculum and how to ensure students were graduating on time. But the space for deep conversations about a student's future was gone. An example of how our definition of student success varies between stakeholders, and in trying to solve the time-to-degree problem, we'd created a different problem.

# data[].attributes.body
I think we in the humanities haven't traditionally done a good job answering the ROI question for students, and we need to do better. We need an answer that helps them pursue the humanities because they're interested in them, without fearing that they'll end up with no career prospects. I think the ideas in Hacking College provide the beginning of a good answer: students can follow their academic interests, while tying them to particular career pathways, no matter what those interests are. That involves putting lots of university resources together, and not just thinking of a major as a career track all by itself.

# data[].attributes.body
I am a huge fan of the Gallup-Purdue Index (now the Strada-Gallup Alumni Survey) that covers the six factors that lead to a happy, successful life for college graduates. I've always grappled with the idea of ROI because that study shows that the true ROI comes from a student's willingness to engage in their studies and with their institution. "Empty degrees" have pushed the conversation around ROI, but the Field of Study model in the book helps us guide students through a more meaningful experience in which they will want to be more engaged.

# data[].attributes.body
In our group, we talked about how to hack college students might need to do more things in less time. To make connections, meet people, make choices, engage extracurriculars, etc life skills like time management, study study skills, self-advocacy, etc are critical.

# data[].attributes.body
We have to consider the other skills necessary for STEM disciplines, for example speech skills for a director level role.

# data[].attributes.body
One participant brought up the issue of credit transfers, and how if a low-income student begins their coursework at a community college, and decides to change their major later on, there are times when their credits may not transfer to a feeder institution later on. This is a significant problem.

# data[].attributes.body
Education has been increasingly commodified and transactional since the 70s, concurrent with nation-wide financial disinvestment in higher education. Hacking College has excellent questions on meaning and fulfillment, which is a reframing that I find very important. We (academe) have made a terrible argument for ourselves against this commodification and restriction of intellectual exploration that the public hasn’t found compelling in the face of rising costs and widening economic gaps. A renewed conversation on purpose, meaning, fulfillment (rather than “happiness”), the benefits of highly diverse learning environments, and tolerance of ambiguity is very much needed. I see this as part of a larger conversation around universal design, antiracism, community engagement, metacognition, and values or character. On that last bit, it’s been largely taboo to discuss personal character and values in education, I think because of this commodification as well as a severe backlash against critical thinking, diversity, and equity (“indoctrination!”). As we question our own preconceptions and entrenched  priorities as educational professionals, we may help customize and contextualize what we are asking students to do, which will hopefully help reframe the national conversation around a liberal education and the benefit to society to have many well-rounded young people coming out of educational institutions.

# data[].attributes.body
One participant brought up the concept of the "ROI Dad" who analyzes the return on investment of college and will not allow their child to enter a college program of study unless it's "worth it" from his perspective.

# data[].attributes.body
We have to stop thinking of college as a degree mill! One participant suggested to her son (a college sophomore) that he should think about what type of job he'd like to be working in long term.

# data[].attributes.body
Empty degrees happen when we don't take the time to have real conversations with students about what their interests, skills, natural abilities, and values are. When we capture that, we connect them to the right education. Everyone needs an education, but everyone does not necessarily need a degree. Education isn't limited to a formal setting. Those who may not need a degree but feel they have to have a degree to be successful may end up with an empty degree.

# data[].attributes.body
A key for higher education is to help students find their path by integrating a question approach and using the student's response to plan that path. Serves both those that have a clear plan as well as those that don't. Short answer - higher education develop process to learn more about student's interests/goals. Maybe use AI to help student's uncover their interests.

# data[].attributes.body
Parents consistently hear in the media about the rising costs of college (and the costs are generally far higher than they were when those same parents went to college if they have degrees) and we also went through that whole phase of media coverage of campus life spending on things like the LSU shaped lazy river and climbing walls, etc.; when this is the noise surrounding families at all times and then the job market reflects college graduates who may not necessarily have the skills/knowledge needed for success coming out of their undergraduate programs, parents automatically revert to a pattern of informed consumerism and demanding ROI for their tuition dollars. Higher ed is fighting an uphill battle in this regard - but luckily Hacking College reflects real, thoughtful solutions.

# data[].attributes.body
Currently, the value of a degree is measured in dollars, the value of a college is measured in numbers of graduates and dollars (grants, endowments, etc), the value of an individual is often reduced to credentials and income as well. Making sense of the college degree can be hard, especially for students who are first gen or who do not have the cultural capital to effectively put to use their connections, knowing that the college degree is nothing more than a rubber stamp and a rite of passage. What Hacking College offers are tools to rethink what college does and how it does it.

# data[].attributes.body
If we want greater ROI from a degree, we need to connect courses, clubs, and career paths earlier. Every student won't find their purpose or path right away, it will take some exploring. So that should be build into the curriculum (like a required for-credit career development course) to prompt and guide that exploration.

# data[].attributes.body
What is the responsibility of institutions for institutions in preparing for the jobs of the future rather than the jobs that currently exist?

Ned responded that Hacking College is about focusing on the student's hidden vocation-- which will solve the wicked problems of the world.

# data[].attributes.body
Filling in the blank spaces really is about the multiple ways we work with students to help them believe it's ok to be curious. We are seeing that they don't have a lot of opportunities to ask questions of themselves. Providing this space, modeling these actions are important.

# data[].attributes.body
The overproduction of PhDs in fields in which there are no academic jobs available for them and their need to find ‘alt-ac’ jobs is an entirely cruel and unusual reality in US academia. The undergraduate degree equivalent of this is something noted briefly in the book: a student can complete a degree and then resort to being a barista or bartender not by choice but by necessity due to the lack of available positions that fit their accreditation. Personally, I think the current public discourse about the role of a college degree is, in part, conditioned by the massive change occurring in the post-WWII promise and the GI-bill possibilities that a college degree is a secure way to climb up the socioeconomic ladder. That is not necessarily the case now. There is a need to redefine the role of higher education now that already existed but that is being forced upon us by the current administration.

# data[].attributes.body
Without active engagement in their learning, students will not remember what they were exposed to. It will be the record of everything they forgot.

# data[].attributes.body
With increasing costs and complexity and sense that the value is declining (underemployment, jobs waiving degree requirements), it's understandable that people are focused on ROI -- and they should be. I agree that we spend too much time thinking about WHERE to go to college and now enough on HOW to go to college to get more out of it.

# data[].attributes.body
In locations like Hawaii, many High School seniors can't picture themselves leaving the island. So there is an effort to recruit students to the community colleges, and the values these institutions bring to the community.

# data[].attributes.body
Many students (as many as half) do not want to leave their home town, and if students do not see the value of a degree in their hometown, it will be difficult for them to pursue the credential.

# data[].attributes.body
Each student's success needs to be centered, and right now institutions' processes are geared towards mass production. Advising is typically not done with the best student-advisor ratio - advisors are often ovewhelmed with the number of students they need to advise, along with all the other duties they need to perform. Hacking College says each student is unique and needs to have career-centered advising. Students are at college to get a degree to get a job, but yet 52% are underemployed when they get a job. This is one of the reasons why people are questioning the value of college. By keep doing the same thing we have always done will not change those results.

# data[].attributes.body
Hopefully the "empty degree" can be mitigated with helping students discover the "hidden jobs." In many cases - mentors and advisors make the difference for individuals students - but not in ways that translates to the value we all hope for out of college. This why Hacking College must be applied much more directly to how we do college and transform our work to better serve students.

# data[].attributes.body
Empty degrees are an opportunity to fill degrees with a mixture of meaningful courses that may not be at all related to a major or even a minor, but that are relevant to what a student wants to become. I think "individualized degrees" which are often marginal in most institutions could become the dominant degree in the future.

# data[].attributes.body
What worries me is the system doesn't really want to foster metacognition or students who think too deeply but wants them trained in the tools of the master, whether AI or something else that will make them useful as well as pay off debt. Maybe I am connecting Sharon Stein's Unsettling the University too much here....

# data[].attributes.body
The "empty degree" is a very powerful critique of the gap between what students earn and what they learn. It describes a scenario in which students, driven by misleading messages about the "right major" or "best job" complete a degree filled with disconnected courses, minimal advising, and little integration between their studies and career goals. It will likely, at best, (may) prepare them for their short-term future but does NOT prepare them for the long-term.

This concept directly intersects with today's public discourse on ROI in higher education. As families and policymakers increasingly question whether college is "worth it" they often measure value through earnings alone, fueling a reductive narrative that equates certain majors with success and others with failure. But Ned and Scott's book shows that the problem isn't the major itself - its how institutions fail to help students meaningfully connect their education to a sense of purpose and to the hidden job market. Additionally, how institutions fail to help students develop the skills needed to adapt, pivot, adjust, and shift as their life dictates or forces them to well after they graduate.

An "empty degree" doesn't just risk poor financial return; it contributes to underemployment, dissatisfaction, and disillusionment, and significant challenges later in life. Hacking College shows us that the antidote isn't to cut liberal arts or herd students into high-ROI majors, but to teach students how to fil in the "blank spaces" of their education with intentional choices that reflect their interest and aspirations and instill a skill set to help the "modern learner" to navigate an uncertain future and an evolving world landscape.

# data[].attributes.body
The concept of an "empty degree" can continue to be addressed based on the value of the experiences and learning opportunities that occur at the institution. Intentional and early support is critical. Connection with students as they explore their options and customizing support to enrich their experience is valuable, beyond measures of degrees obtained and/or jobs/careers secured.

# data[].attributes.body
In some of the experiments that I conducted to expand the academic record, I found that students struggled to articulate what they have learned. If you showed them their record and asked them to offer a narrative about what they experienced, they would often say that what they studied were required without greater understanding of why they were asked to study the topics. They lacked agency in what they were studying. I believe we need to encourage students to engage in developing their "why" and get that documented. By doing so, people will understand the value of Higher Education.

# data[].attributes.body
It's a valid question when students go into college without any sense of what they want to do, change majors several times during college, and graduate without a sense of vocation. Changing majors isn't the problem, if colleges are helping students weave together their learning and experiences to inform how they are called to serve. Colleges need to model a value proposition that is relevant to the need to connect what students bring to college with the needs they can serve in the world in the future. Hacking college can help them do that.

# data[].attributes.body
In a climate that is attacking the humanities, Hacking College is an act of resistance. Is the process of hacking college pushing against the free market economy?

This question was asked of Ned, and he responded with a story about his daughter's backgrounds. Ned said: Humanities is as marketable as anything else if we pair them with the student's hidden intellectualism and the hidden job market.

# data[].attributes.body
As the world continues accelerating forward, the content in a major is becoming increasingly obsolete (sometimes before graduation). Additionally, students today are dealing with the concept of "16 years of education and debt only to be replaced by AI".

# data[].attributes.body
I take Hacking College to be a re-imagining of what higher education is about and how it works best. It seems to me to be a prescription for how to get students to find what they're interested in and what they care about, tie that to a potential career, and then use their time in college to explore those interests and prepare for that career. The result is that each student builds for themself a unique pathway, with their own goal and using all the resources at the institution to get there -- courses, student organizations, administrative office, study abroad, etc. It presents a much richer and more valuable experience then I think how many people think about higher ed, which is more along the lines of "major --> career".

# data[].attributes.body
Overall, we need to take a student-centered approach to higher education. Students today want to get work experience in college, while having the flexibility to pivot to new interests as they are exposed to new career opportunities. The traditional 4-year model doesn't provide the on-ramps and off-ramps lifelong learners require. Not to mention the need for reskilling as technologies and career continue evolving.

# data[].attributes.body
I resonate with many of the comments in this thread already--How do we make success more about intention rather than luck? I notice that the authors lift up several best practices that are relevant across the entire educaiton and workforce development ecosystem which are often not tracked or implemented consistently: transferrable skill development, experiential learning, and networking. These all depend heavily on a person's existing social capital and ability to build that social capital while in a school program; if a student has limited connections with faculty, mentors, real-world experiences, or even other students while participating in a college program, their potential success may be stunted.

# data[].attributes.body
I couldn't agree more about the work that needs to be done debunking (deprogramming?) messaging about major selection and the relationship to major and career. When college begins, students begin the stressful process of narrowing their interests to pick a major rather than thoughtfully exploring them. We spend a lot of time on this concept in the Applied Humanities. Students find themselves loving the major and experiential learning but still anxious that they have an "empty degree".

# data[].attributes.body
I find the discourse wildly inauthentic, as most of the criticism comes from folks in power who have had wonderful experiences in higher ed in the past, but want to pull up ladders for students currently. So we need to change the arguments -- there are skills developed in any and all disciplines, if only we are brave enough to surface them, and connect them.

# data[].attributes.body
There was a line in the introduction that referenced 'bootcamps, badges, and microcredentials" and I think this is how students fixate on their courses, and don't know how to make meaningful connections across the meta-major

# data[].attributes.body
As a scientist whose work is deeply tied to environmental change, for me the concept of Hacking College is part and parcel of what is requisite overall in the 21st century: we need to be very nimble and we need to learn how to think and act in creative new ways for future challenges that are still unwieldy, amorphous, and unknown.

# data[].attributes.body
It's relevant because it is encouraging us to move away from transactional advising and 'check lists'. Instead moving to student centered advising that helps students take charge of their education and future. Reframing advising and support, focusing on connections and interdisciplinary learning, as well as preparing students for jobs are critical for the future of higher ed.

# data[].attributes.body
Skill-building takes time, and it's hard to convince younger students, especially first-gen, that such work not only takes time, but is difficult (involving, well, some amount of failure).

The use of AI seems to take away the time factor if what we're doing is only about "information." AI can give us instantly what information (and even arguments) we are wanting in the moment.

If we faculty can help students identify their wicked question, this could spur motivation to "get through" even boring stuff--because students see the need.

We have to be careful not to try to make learning fun, fun, fun. It often isn't. Besides, unless we're on TikTok, we can't compete with students' attention.

# data[].attributes.body
How AI may be impacting careers is a topic of interest.

It's important to ensure that students can tackle the wicked problems-- in ways that AI cannot do.

# data[].attributes.body
Making student success less about luck really resonates with me. Chance favors the prepared mind!

# data[].attributes.body
When students graduate from college and don't seem to have the skills employers are seeking and/or are unable to find the types of jobs they expect with a college degree, the perception that college doesn't matter is reinforced. If it appears that we in higher education can't prepare our students for jobs, that perception will only increase.

# data[].attributes.body
The "empty degree" concept captures the lack of direction represented in higher ed, for students. This is a result of a lack of infrastructure to prepare students for college in HS, among other things (big silo between school and the "real world").

There is no mechanism for sampling for students to learn what they want, and there's no infrastructure that builds awareness of what actually exists in the world beyond very narrow courses that are not interdisciplinary and not centered on real world challenges.

We can have a lot of discussion about the cause of this: standardized testing, cultural pressure on academic achievement, and more.

# data[].attributes.body
It's not uncommon to work with presidential scholars with 4.0s but they have no idea what they're doing next.

It's important to funnel resources into students, so that they're successful out in the world.

# data[].attributes.body
There's so much attention on "quick fixes" with regards to higher education. This isn't actually about easy fixes for students, but how to get both students and advisor to rethink how they approach their college education and actually go beyond box-checking

# data[].attributes.body
I think Hacking College is extremely relevant because it helps us reframe how we understand undergraduate education - not just as a collection of courses leading to a credential or as a "major", but as an opportunity for students to construct meaning and purpose from their education (regardless of their major).

I completely agree with the challenge by Ned and Scott to shift from the fixation on majors and shifting to "field of study" approach. This empowers students to integrate their interests and their experience in general education, electives, and experiential learning into a cohesive, personalized academic journey that will serve them well post college as they navigate a very evolving and ever changing world.

This is particularly important for the future of higher education, where institutions are facing growing pressure to demonstrate value, improve career outcomes, and support an increasingly diverse student body - many of whom are first-generation or low-income and lack the cultural or social capital to "hack" the college experience on their own. Especially with the reality that terms like "traditional", "non-traditional", "adult" are no longer really applicable to how we define students. We need to focus on the "modern learner" which better describes the nature of students whether they are 18, 30 or 50.

By emphasizing hidden intellectualism, cultural capital, and purpose-driven learning, Ned and Scott offer a student-centered alternative to transactional advising and bureaucratic rigidity. The highlighting of the need for higher ed to evolve - not by adding flashy new programs, but by rehumanizing conversations, rethinking advising, and helping students connect coursework with their long-term goals is LONG overdue. This kind of redesign is vital to improving both persistence and post-graduate success (not to mention relevancy).

# data[].attributes.body
Students (and their parents!) have very different ideas NOW about what higher education is and can do for students than they did 10 or even 5 years ago. In addition, colleges/universities have altered their offerings (degrees, etc.) simultaneously as a business practice (e.g. to secure market share in a dwindling market). This combination of (somewhat opposing) developments has led to much confusion in the market - but Hacking College addresses both the problem AND offers a roadmap to navigating the current waters.

# data[].attributes.body
Hacking College can provide students with a better-targeted education.

# data[].attributes.body
The idea that college is too expensive, is a waste of money, and leads to high loan debt is so prevalent right now. Having students take unnecessary courses for the sake of a degree audit or a liberal arts degree just adds to this feeling. Not engaging students in the beginning to determine the best path for them also adds to this feeling. Students waste time 'trying' degrees and delay graduation, take unneeded courses, and may graduate with a degree that is not relevant to their future plans. Helping students design a plan to lead to their ultimate goal should be the point of college.

# data[].attributes.body
We always throw around the idea of "student-centric" in our programs and initiatives, but typically it's the top-down perspective. Hacking College requires us to actually ask our students what they want/need, what is relevant in their lives, and then build a curriculum around those answers. It challenges our existing structures (particularly at 2-year institutions!), but some or most of the ideas proposed in the book can be actionable anywhere.

# data[].attributes.body
For educators, the sooner we recognize the goal is much bigger than 'retention' or 'completion' but it is ensuring our students recognize their ability to change the world in a way only they can.

Here at our institution, we have already started to move away from "What's your major?" to "What's your career plan?" and while I am proud of what we have done, reading this book showed we still have changes we can make.

# data[].attributes.body
For me the 'Empty Degree' language captures both what is right and what is wrong with the ROI discourse. It's fair to say that lots of students go into huge debt for a college education that doesn't end up improving their career prospects. But the discourse emphasizes the need for college majors to translate directly to a career, and it is a rare college student (whether traditional age or not) who knows what they want to do and tracking them into majors to make sure they graduate on time (and get a job) is often not helpful to their growth and development (though it does reduce time to degree and overall cost)

.

# data[].attributes.body
Hacking College gives students the freedom to explore their hidden intellectualism and see the career opportunities in any field -- not just the traditional industries that lead to "good" careers, whatever that means. That, in turn, increases their commitment to their own success. It gives them the "moxie," as the book says, to pursue their unique and individualized goals.

# data[].attributes.body
Why do we do what we do? Who should we listen to? I was a theatre major and had relatives ask me, "what will you do with that?" There are so many things to think about when it comes to finding your 'why.' We need to encourage our students to think about the big picture, it's more than money.

# data[].attributes.body
We need to think about the fact that learning is not limited to the classroom: This generation focuses on bettering the world, and we need high impact practices that round out the experiences at the university, allowing for a reduced number of credit hours in majors.

# data[].attributes.body
Focusing on the student experience and opportunities for connection is highly relevant to the future of higher ed and student success. Ensuring students have access to experiential learning opportunities and relevant supports will continue to support students in the future.

# data[].attributes.body
To me the question of the future, begins with a review of our own prior experiences when we were emerging college students - many of the questions of "why am I here and where am I going" resonate with the echo of time throughout the college experience. But with the changing times the openness to discuss these feelings and thoughts can inspire new creative ways to address the college journey challenge.

# data[].attributes.body
I work with many first-gen students who have been told that the college degree will open all doors. When they graduate, they often struggle to find meaningful jobs. Hacking College gives a roadmap for helping these students view college much more broadly than a series of boxes to be checked but more as a gift of 4 years to explore who they are, what they do best, while also learning the skills and content knowledge they will need to succeed in the "real world." It also helps students to better define success.

# data[].attributes.body
There's a danger of adding more fuel to the fire of anti-college sentiment right now, so we need to tread carefully. The best argument for higher education is to continue to innovate and develop approaches that maximize its real value to students, which has to be something beyond credentialing.

# data[].attributes.body
Giving students agency and a roadmap to understand what inspires them as human beings, rather than checking off an advising box, and moving them through our system, is relevant to the future of higher education. As institutions we need to unbrick, unmortar, un-silo, and upend the system as we know it.

# data[].attributes.body
Our work is two-fold: We need to empower students to recognize that they possess agency. Second, we need to create an institutional culture that emphasizes all students are capable of learning. Too often, we as faculty have been encouraged to think of ourselves as "guardians of the discipline"--but who is invading, and where is the war?

# data[].attributes.body
Giving students agency and a roadmap to understand what inspires them as human beings, rather than checking off an advising box, and moving them through our system, is relevant to the future of higher education. As institutions we need to unbrick, unmortar, un-silo, and upend the system as we know it. Student success is not simply a pillar, a mission, a goal for us to play with, human actualization and humans realizing their own genius should be the core of our mission. Rather than throwing obstacles up- rigid procedures, and outdated systems need torn down, and in their place, a new energy needs formulated and birthed, - one that celebrates all aspects of a person, not just labeling of  - go to this degree path, or area of study or industry even, but what is it that this soul came to this earth to do - to be. If we as "educators" got to the heart of this mission, we will in fact be back on track to open opportunities for learners to show up and show us what they are made of, for us to act not as top down educators, but as facilitators of dreams, facilitators of all people finding their authentic gifts and abilities and contributing, as they are willing and able, to their own wellbeing and out of this abundance to society as a whole. Stand down educators, stand up those who are willing to facilitate and support education for all.

# data[].attributes.body
Higher Ed needs to shift and be more responsive. It needs to be a better fit for students and less 'one size fits all'. Hacking College looks at a new way to ensure student success and, maybe, save the reputation of higher education!

# data[].attributes.body
Hacking College is the kind of re-examination of college that we need from time to time. Students are too "checklist" oriented, and need a push to develop greater agency. Institutions need to recognize how to enable and support student agency and action. The Field of Study approach is an approach that moves us forward within current institutional constraints.

# data[].attributes.body
There are so many connections I made to what I experience day to day with students. Reminding each other to collaborate and provide new experiences to our students is important!

# data[].attributes.body
Agree with Tom on empowerment. All knowledge id relational, so we need to create more conversation spaces on and off campus.

# data[].attributes.body
I think introducing Fields of Study and social and cultural capital ever before students come to college is crucial.

# data[].attributes.body
Ultimately our success is derived from student experience of value, of personal empowerment derived from the school experience. This approach also seeds the basis of lifelong learning.

# data[].attributes.body
Hacking College will become increasingly relevant the more actionable we collectively can make it. The voices and trajectories of the students demonstrate that if we change the way we serve students we can change their learning outcomes and enhance the value of college. That is critical in this moment.

# data[].attributes.body
The Hacking College approach speaks to me and will be helpful to the students I work with because it will help them to plan their college experience with intention. So much has been planned for them up until they get to college and they so often don't realize how quickly their 4 years in college will pass.

# data[].attributes.body
Higher education needs to empower students in new ways. For example, we need to look to our students to understand how to make higher education more useful and attractive to students, especially those who may not have the family or community supports to go to college. We also need to enable them to mix and match the courses that they will need to have the careers they aspire to. It is essentially a customer-focused, mass customization model of higher education, which is quite different from the faculty focused, mass production model that we now have in most institutions.

# data[].attributes.body
Students need to understand the tools available to them to be their best self-advocates in college. As they understand the concepts of hacking college they can take advantage of the resources available to them in college, and not just wait for the resources to find them. Even better when colleges inntentionally provide these resources to students as well!

# data[].attributes.body
For a number of years, the value Higher Education in this country has been questioned. The model proposed by Ned and Scott in this book could contribute to curtail these attacks and make it clear to students and parents what Higher Education can do for them that micro-credencials provided by their employers will not.

# data[].attributes.body
Hacking college seems quite relevant as a way to breakdown the silos that can get in the way of student success because it encourages students (and faculty and staff) to make connections, for example between a field/topic/problem of interest and coursework, co-curriculars, extra-curricular experiences

# data[].attributes.body
As someone with a background in design, the "hacking college" approach resonates with me because it's about finding problems that students are passionate about solving and then building the knowledge, skills, and relationships to solve them by engaging people. Each of these interactions is a chance to prototype your future.

# data[].attributes.body
What I heard more than anything is - metacognition is useful for more than planning a college education. Habits of mind are what we're trying for here.

# data[].attributes.body
Hacking College corrects the empty degree problem, and makes that transactional approach to a college degree seem dull and uninspiring. The university becomes much more than a degree with this approach, and students (and the rest of us) are all the richer for it.

# data[].attributes.body
With the field of higher education in flux right now, it seems like reexamining what happens at the university--a massive investment for students in the US--is the right thing to do. The university experience at brick-and-mortar schools can be so valuable in so many ways, and Hacking College captures the embarrassment of riches at universities that students (and faculty and staff and community) all too often don't see.

# data[].attributes.body
My cousin's daughter attended my university ten years ago and, despite my best efforts to mentor her, she majored in musical theater and graduated with a somewhat empty degree. She's been underemployed since graduation and still lives with her folks. A few years later, when my sister's oldest son expressed no desire to attend college, she said, okay, don't go, it's not always worth it anyway, look at cousin X. Multiply that scenario by every family in America. Every time a college graduate is unable to find full-time employment with benefits, it's yet another tally mark against higher ed. Every time a college graduate winds up in a career that's deemed "unrelated" (sigh) to their major, that's another tally mark, too.

# data[].attributes.body
Melissa's comment sums it up well. What I've noticed about Student Success initiatives across the country is that they mostly focus on A.) keeping students enrolled (bottom line: gotta keep the doors open) instead of B.) focusing on meaningful and remunerative career placement. It's hard and expensive to do both A and B. Low-income, first-gen, small-town/rural, BIPOC, disadvantaged students really need a lot of explicit and hands on help with B, but they don't always get it/can't find it/don't know that they don't know they need it.

# data[].attributes.body
Many graduates from college are having a hard time finding a job in their chosen field. They have taken the mandatory classes in their department and filled their "blank spaces" with random classes that fit their schedule. Sometimes students are majoring in subjects that have been promoted as being fast tracks to successful careers, but some of these students are either struggling with the requirements of those majors or are not overly interested in them. This can lead to lower grades and a lack of understanding in the knowledge needed to excel in the field. There have been promises that if you major in X you will be successful. Students are going into debt and very few are being advised to look at their interests or what they are most curious about and then design a plan to add skills (in and out of the classroom) to be prepared for a job where they can enjoy and prosper. In addition, there has been a strong message that the most important thing is to go to a handful of colleges and major in a few different things. Hacking College highlights that "what you do" at any college is more important than "where you go" which is an important message for people to hear.

# data[].attributes.body
Hacking College highlights how colleges are focused on getting students to graduate as opposed to making sure they are exploring and learning topics of interest to them and their potential professions. This leads to empty degrees, less interested students, and underemployment. Hacking College offers an alternative so that students feel engaged and take ownership of their college education.