WEBVTT - Penn State President Discusses Obligation to Engage Students

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<v Speaker 1>This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Jason

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<v Speaker 1>Kelly on Bloomberg Radio, and we're here with Dr Eric Barron,

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<v Speaker 1>President of Penn State University, here in our Bloomberg Interactive

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<v Speaker 1>Broker's studio. There is so much going on, and before

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<v Speaker 1>we even got started, we were saying how disruption has

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<v Speaker 1>impacted a lot of different industries already over the last

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<v Speaker 1>few years, and I feel like it's playing catch up

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<v Speaker 1>with education and looking at very different aspects. Tell us

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<v Speaker 1>about when you look at the current um educational environment

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<v Speaker 1>at universities, how is it going to be different in

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<v Speaker 1>five years? Well, you know, I would say one of

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<v Speaker 1>the things that is of particular significance is the fact

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<v Speaker 1>that people will change careers and they will need new things.

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<v Speaker 1>How do they continue to be a student and have

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<v Speaker 1>access to that information? And so we're looking at this

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<v Speaker 1>very directly, and just to give you an idea about

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<v Speaker 1>doing this, we have something called one Penn State. You

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<v Speaker 1>keep your I D, you keep your student number, you

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<v Speaker 1>keep your email, and if you were a student in

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<v Speaker 1>good standing or got a degree, you walk into the

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<v Speaker 1>portal sign up for anything you need. There's no transactional time,

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<v Speaker 1>no need to reapply, and you may go in there

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<v Speaker 1>and get a micro credential. Maybe you're an engineer and

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<v Speaker 1>you decide to get a business minor. Maybe it's because

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<v Speaker 1>your company is doing something in chemistry and you'd like

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<v Speaker 1>to have a little bit more chemistry. Maybe you like

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<v Speaker 1>the opera and just want to take take a course.

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<v Speaker 1>So the whole idea is, let's make it easy online residential.

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<v Speaker 1>We have twenty one campuses. So imagine the difference if

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<v Speaker 1>you look at someone and say, not goodbye, I hope

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<v Speaker 1>you have a successful life, but congratulations on that degree.

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<v Speaker 1>You're still a student, come back any time. And that's

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<v Speaker 1>very appealing in in many ways. I wonder when you

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<v Speaker 1>describe that, whether it changes the whole notion of and

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<v Speaker 1>Carol and I both have uh juniors in high school,

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<v Speaker 1>so we're thinking about this all the time. This notion

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<v Speaker 1>of a four year degree and and going off to

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<v Speaker 1>school for four years, does that in itself become a

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<v Speaker 1>little antiquated? Yeah, it may. Actually we we more and

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<v Speaker 1>more encourage students to become engaged and think about that time,

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<v Speaker 1>even to graduate a little bit more quickly. Because of

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<v Speaker 1>the amount of money, you say, days, education is expensive

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<v Speaker 1>so uh, four years, five years. Um, if if we

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<v Speaker 1>if we do things that enable you not to have

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<v Speaker 1>roadblocks as you go along, not to make mistakes, we

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<v Speaker 1>ought to be able to deliver it even faster. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>you say education is expensive, I think that is an

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<v Speaker 1>understatement to say the least. I mean it is. Uh,

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<v Speaker 1>it is breathtaking for many people when they start to consider,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, even at you know, a state university, how

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<v Speaker 1>much it can cost, what can be on, what should

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<v Speaker 1>be done, and what's realistic in terms of bringing the

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<v Speaker 1>cost down. So literally we watched with the last recession

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<v Speaker 1>and the sort of clawback of dollars that universities weren't

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<v Speaker 1>the same part of the public good and the resources

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<v Speaker 1>were not there, and then in many cases didn't even

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<v Speaker 1>keep up with inflation over years and years, and so

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<v Speaker 1>then the cost come goes higher and higher, and it's

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<v Speaker 1>more expensive when you start to consider the laboratories and

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<v Speaker 1>other things, and and the the the digital education needs

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<v Speaker 1>that you have. So what can you do about it? Well,

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<v Speaker 1>you can spend a lot of time cutting the budget,

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<v Speaker 1>and I work hard at that, But the other possibilities

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<v Speaker 1>are to think about every roadblock you have, are you

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<v Speaker 1>prepared to go to college, So we're incentivizing preparedness. Are

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<v Speaker 1>you placed in the right course or do you take

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<v Speaker 1>calculus the next course after calculus and you think your

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<v Speaker 1>calcul list was good but in high school and it wasn't,

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<v Speaker 1>So you don't do well, you go back and take calculus,

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<v Speaker 1>then you take the next class. I just spent three

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<v Speaker 1>semesters on to get to a prerequisite um fast start

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<v Speaker 1>for a student that has to work too many hours,

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<v Speaker 1>drops too many classes, gives up because they can't graduate

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<v Speaker 1>on time. So we've got programs to help a student

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<v Speaker 1>have summer job scholarship six credits in one summer twelve

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<v Speaker 1>and another. They get the hating credit head start, and

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<v Speaker 1>we see that their attention rates are higher, their grade

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<v Speaker 1>points are higher, they're dropping classes less frequently, and they

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<v Speaker 1>might graduate in three and a half years when they're

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<v Speaker 1>a need based student graduating in five or six and

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<v Speaker 1>borrowing an enormous amount of money to do it well.

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<v Speaker 1>I do wonder about access in equality in terms of

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<v Speaker 1>access to good universities and colleges, you know, like yourself, Um,

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<v Speaker 1>how do we make sure it is more equal? Are

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<v Speaker 1>we doing the right way? Because I do feel like

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<v Speaker 1>something's out of whack at this point. There's a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of money coming to schools. We have, you know, huge endowments,

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<v Speaker 1>and yet you know, as we know with the college

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<v Speaker 1>admission scandal, there's a lot of you know, games kind

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<v Speaker 1>of going on, and frankly, I worry that it's it's

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<v Speaker 1>going to get worse if you go back a decade

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<v Speaker 1>or so, we have seven states for which the majority

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<v Speaker 1>of their high school graduates were federally defined as need based.

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<v Speaker 1>Today we have more than twenty states that are in

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<v Speaker 1>that category. So you're looking at enormous population that doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>have the capacity to pay. So if we don't have

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<v Speaker 1>this reinstituted as part of the public good, how are

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<v Speaker 1>we going to help that that group advance and really

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<v Speaker 1>contribute to the economy. So we're going to have to

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<v Speaker 1>have a lot of programs and that we work on

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<v Speaker 1>to do to enable that student. Penn State also has

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<v Speaker 1>twenty one locations, so we have catchment areas that allow

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<v Speaker 1>you to live at home and in living at home,

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<v Speaker 1>keep your summer job and say the significant portion of

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<v Speaker 1>the cost as well as discount on a tuition. And

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<v Speaker 1>this enables that those campuses are about pel eligible students,

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<v Speaker 1>And we're here with Dr Eric Barron, president of Penn

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<v Speaker 1>State University, here in our Bloomberg Interactive Broker's studio. So

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<v Speaker 1>Dr Barron, one thing I want to ask you about

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<v Speaker 1>is we just got a ruling here a crossing the

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg a story about Harvard defeating an anti affirmative action

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<v Speaker 1>groups lawsy to stop the school from using race as

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<v Speaker 1>a factor uh in admissions. We're expecting this to go

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<v Speaker 1>all the way to the Supreme Court. What do you

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<v Speaker 1>think about that? Well, so we'll have to watch to

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<v Speaker 1>see how how it uh, how how it evolves. Of course,

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<v Speaker 1>we are constantly evaluating our admissions to make sure that

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<v Speaker 1>we're we're being as even as we possibly can, that

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<v Speaker 1>we have strong criteria that bring in an academic class

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<v Speaker 1>that's strong. But at the same time, we value the

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<v Speaker 1>diversity of the class um part of the educational experience.

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<v Speaker 1>Out of the educational experience, we always know that if

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<v Speaker 1>you have a diverse class, it's a richer experience. And

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<v Speaker 1>and as a public we feel like we have an

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<v Speaker 1>obligation to to teach the students of America. And so

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<v Speaker 1>that means you, if you're doing your job, you have

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<v Speaker 1>a diverse class. So you're constantly looking at this without

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<v Speaker 1>introducing something that appears to add a bias that that

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<v Speaker 1>is inappropriate. So it's not an easy job, and these

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<v Speaker 1>court cases become very important in making sure that we

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<v Speaker 1>analyze what we do and do it right. When you

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<v Speaker 1>think about the Varsity Blues scandal, what's the real impact

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<v Speaker 1>in terms of behavior changing, either on the part of

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<v Speaker 1>parents or on the part of the institution. Well, tell

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<v Speaker 1>you if someone is punished as severely as some of

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<v Speaker 1>the people are being punished, I do think that puts

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<v Speaker 1>a chilling effect on on attempting to buy your way in. UM.

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<v Speaker 1>My personal feeling is that any time something happens where

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<v Speaker 1>we trust higher education less, this is a this is

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<v Speaker 1>a bad thing. And you know, we work so hard

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<v Speaker 1>to make sure that there's not a favoritism, that that

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<v Speaker 1>you can't do it from political influence or donor influence,

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<v Speaker 1>and that it's based on the credentials. Just think how

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<v Speaker 1>unsuccessful it is for a student if they come in

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<v Speaker 1>below the academic requirements of the university and then fail.

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<v Speaker 1>That's a terrible experience for a student. So, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>the trust is important, but the success of the student

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<v Speaker 1>is even more important. But I think it's safe to

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<v Speaker 1>say that I think there was an understanding that some

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<v Speaker 1>of this always went on. The varsity Blue scandal kind

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<v Speaker 1>of took it to a whole other level. Um, But

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<v Speaker 1>there has been always an understanding um that you know,

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<v Speaker 1>we look at, you know, kids of alumni who maybe

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<v Speaker 1>have made donations. Right, There is a little bit of

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<v Speaker 1>that always present. So it might be the you would

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<v Speaker 1>look at an alum and say, we're more likely to

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<v Speaker 1>yield that student, and so that's a that's a good

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<v Speaker 1>thing because you your efforts and recruiting students might be stronger.

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<v Speaker 1>But it is a mistake to bring in a student

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<v Speaker 1>who doesn't match up with the rest of the class.

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<v Speaker 1>It's just a mistake at least. And how much how

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<v Speaker 1>much has the expectation changed? This actually came up on

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<v Speaker 1>a college toury had over the weekend in terms of

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<v Speaker 1>producing a student who is absolutely ready for a job

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<v Speaker 1>and really trained for a job, and not in a

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<v Speaker 1>position where they come out from a prestigious institution like

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<v Speaker 1>hers and say, well, I'm going to sort of figure

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<v Speaker 1>out what I what I do next. It feels like

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<v Speaker 1>there's more pressure on students and kindily from parents based

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<v Speaker 1>on the investment that there. You know, it changes with

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<v Speaker 1>generations where some are more relaxed about or or or

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<v Speaker 1>less relaxed about it. I like to think about training

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<v Speaker 1>people for a career, giving them that breadth that is there,

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<v Speaker 1>and that opportunity and the ability to be a lifelong learner.

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<v Speaker 1>Those things make a tremendous amount of difference. We know,

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<v Speaker 1>the more experience as a student has outside of the classroom,

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<v Speaker 1>they have much greater success and careers than in other cases,

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<v Speaker 1>and they're building a resume. So internships and things in internships,

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<v Speaker 1>study abroad, one on one interaction with the faculty members,

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<v Speaker 1>consistently these students do better and are more ready for

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<v Speaker 1>jobs they always do. Wonder about what's the balance of

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<v Speaker 1>I think, you know, part of what's great about going

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<v Speaker 1>to college is you've just given an opportunity to explore

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<v Speaker 1>different things that you might not have right and maybe

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<v Speaker 1>just learn how to think um just so whatever comes

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<v Speaker 1>your way versus you know, it's like people who used

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<v Speaker 1>to teachers who taught to s A T. S and

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<v Speaker 1>achievement tests, which we've now realizing isn't such a good thing.

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<v Speaker 1>So what's the balance between So this this is what

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<v Speaker 1>I say. You come to pend State, it's not inexpensive.

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<v Speaker 1>You purchased a blue and white sports car. If you

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<v Speaker 1>just go to class, you're driving at twenty If you

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<v Speaker 1>put you should put that sports car through its paces.

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<v Speaker 1>And that's twelve hundred clubs that you can experiment with

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<v Speaker 1>things that you've never done. That sets of classes and

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<v Speaker 1>opportunities with interact with faculty. That's the outer classroom, experienced

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<v Speaker 1>service learning, or something else that transforms what your educational experiences.

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<v Speaker 1>So and we know those students are more successful. I

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<v Speaker 1>think we have an obligation not just to say here's

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<v Speaker 1>your course, but here's what you can do to really

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<v Speaker 1>make and literally there are surveys out there that suggests

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<v Speaker 1>the more engaged you are as a student, the happier

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<v Speaker 1>are you are for the rest of your life, regardless

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<v Speaker 1>of income or age. So I think we have to

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<v Speaker 1>do this. It's just not delivering curriculum only anymore. All right,

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<v Speaker 1>what a treat for us to catch up with you.

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<v Speaker 1>We really appreciate the time. Dr Eric Barron is the

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<v Speaker 1>president of Penn State University, and I'm just gonna say it,

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<v Speaker 1>it's got a four and no football all team, a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of expectations, high expectations, and they're also going to

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<v Speaker 1>put out there that when he was the president of

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<v Speaker 1>Florida State, they won a national championship. So anyway, I'm

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<v Speaker 1>just throwing that out there. Thank you so much for

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<v Speaker 1>joining