January 27, 2026 • 30 mins
This episode of CEOs You Should Know features Nuno Fernandes, President of American Public University System
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to iHeartRadio CEOs you should know series. I'm Eric Rodriguez.
Today we're catching up with Newno Fernandez, the president of
American Public University System. Thank you so much for joining us.
So before we get into the American Public University System,
let's learn a little bit about you. First, tell me
about your history, where you're from, your education, kind of
your personal journey here.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Yeah. Sure.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
I was born in a small country in Europe, in Portugal,
and I lived in Portugal until I was about twenty
years old. Then I got to spend some time in
the UK and then my first real job was in Madrid,
in Spain, and I worked for an international company, a
German company called Bosch, you might have heard the name.
(00:41):
And I've worked for them for eleven years, different roles
product management, sales, marketing, and I was, you know, I
traveled alfwhere around the world with them. I lived in Brazil,
I lived in Mexico, spent some time in Colombia and
always working with sales and Marketingually, I became responsible of
one of their divisions in Mexico City, and then I
(01:04):
came to the US with them in the year two
thousand and eight. As I was telling you as their
senior vice president of marketing for the US and Canada,
and I've done that for about four or five years,
and around the year twenty twelve, I moved to higher
education and I've been working high education since then. I
(01:26):
started in a prior company as their CMO, eventually became
the president cy of that company, and then in the
year twenty twenty two, I moved to American Public University
system as a president and that's where I'm right now.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
So tell me what caused that transition to go from
the business world to higher education.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
What motivated Yeah, it was not intentional. It was more
like a coincidence, a good one, I would say. So
I was I had a very nice career at BOSH,
and you know, I was progressing, developing myself and I
was approached by ed Hunter in Miami around the year
twenty twelve, as I was telling you, and they were
(02:03):
looking for a CMO for an education company. And until
that point in time, I never really thought about education
as something that you could market, that you could sell,
that you could you know, offer, because I was in
the consumer goods world, so you know, it's like physical things.
But then I started thinking about my own journey and
my family journey and my parents. I always tell the story,
(02:25):
but I think it's relevant.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
For the discussion.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
My parents are first generation college graduates, and they were
born in a you know, in a very small village
in Portugal with with you know, two hundred people, So
my grandparents, they did not know how to read all right,
So I could I could witness how much education transform
their lives and the possibilities that it opened for themselves
(02:48):
and consequently for me, and I thought that it would
be really cool to be able to do something similar
for other people, to offer expand access to education afforded
by education, so that more people could transform their lives,
just like my family transform their lives and my life consequently.
So as I started thinking about it, I said, well,
(03:10):
it's you know, I'm going to do it, And I
took the job as the chief marketing officer of that company.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
At the time, it was a company that was rapidly expanding.
We were in.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
Ten countries and at our peak we had more than
three hundred thousand students, so it was a very large organization.
And eventually I became the president and c of that company,
and I've been in higher education since.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Then, So what drove you to the American public university system.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
So it was interesting because I've I spent almost ten
years in my prior organization where I was just telling you,
I started the CMO and then I became the president
and CEO, and I've been living in the US since
two thousand and eight, and I always had this curiosity
and this interest of working in the US for the
(03:58):
US in education.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Er job was working in the US but for global education.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Right we had we had universities in Colombia, at universities
in Mexico, and we had business in South Africa and London,
in the UK, in Spain, in Greece at some point,
so we were all over the world. But I always
had this curiosity of being able to work in the
US for the US and really being able to see
how much we could I could translate from my own
(04:24):
experience to be competitive in the US market, which always
attracted me significantly. So in twenty twenty two, again by coincidence,
I was approached again by another head hunter and he
presented me this opportunity with the American Public university system,
and I was immediately attracted to it for different reasons.
(04:44):
So the first one being that it's you know, a
full at American university working specifically for the US, but
also because of their mission. You know, they have this
military background. My father was in the military in Portugal,
of course, so I always had a lot of respect
for people that serve the countries and I was very
(05:06):
intrigued by American university systems.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
So I decided to.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
Take the job, and I started in September of twenty
twenty two.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
And here I am.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
You mentioned the mission statement of APUs. Let's go into
that a little bit. What makes it so unique.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
It's very unique.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
You know, not a lot of people know about a PUS,
but the reality is that it's one of the ten
largest universities in the United States. I think we're number
nine or ten right now. We have about ninety thousand students.
But the university was founded by a veteran with the purpose,
the original purpose of serving the military. So that's sort
(05:45):
of our DNA how it was created, and until today,
the large majority of our students are military or veterans. However,
in the last years, and this is something that I've
been sponsoring and championing with my team, is that we
know that we have a very high quality education, it's
very affordable, and we thought, well, why can't we offer
(06:06):
these also to non military people that would benefit from
the same quality education for a very affordable price, you know,
in this online environment that is ly flexible. So we've
been we started some efforts to offer our products our
services to non military students, especially to their families, the
(06:27):
extended families of the military. And nowadays almost twenty percent
of our population now is quote un called civilians, non
non military students. So we are still very unique in
the sense that we are very you know, military centric centric,
but we are expanding also to other audiences, and we
(06:47):
are also expanding internationally, which is very exciting as well,
because I know there's a because of my background, I
know there's a high demand and a high interest for
American education outside the US. The US is still the
sort of scene as the number one player in the
world in terms of education. A lot of people like
to come here, but they can't. You know, it's expensive,
(07:08):
you have to visa problems, you know, the immigration. You know,
if you have a family, it's very hard for you
to put your life on hold for two years and
say and I'm going to go to the US, So
we are taking American education to them, and we have
a very competitive price point.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
So we're very excited about that. That is something new
that we're just starting.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
You mentioned also about online, and that's what makes the
school unique because you can pretty much whenever you have opportunities,
you can sit down and work.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Yeah, we are one other percent online.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Most schools, particularly after COVID, they've moved also to an
online environment environment, but of course they offer the will
offer traditional education. My view is that it's not that
online is better or worse than traditional education. Is more
about what the expectations and the needs of the students are.
(08:01):
So we serve a lot of as I told, a
lot of military students, but we serve a lot of
adult learners that you know, they have a family, that
their life, they have worked, so it's very hard for
them to take a traditional education path, you know, I'd
say virtually impossible. So online offers that flexibility that you
can study, you know, after hours, you can.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
Study during the weekend.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
If you didn't learn something that you feel I don't
really understand is you can always go back and relearn it.
So there are a lot of advantages of studying online.
This is not to say that traditional education again is
better or worse. I think both of them can be
equally good or equally bad. It depends on the university.
And this is something that is rapidly changing. This online
(08:41):
reputation is to be not very appreciated, but I think
that that is rapidly changing and people are understanding that
it is actually the same level of quality is just
in a different format of delivery.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Do you feel that reputation has changed because originally when
you sit an online school, people kind of step away. Well,
but you're fully accredited, and it's we.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
Are fully accredited by HLC, the Higher Learning Commission, which
accredits some of the most raptable universities in the United States.
And I feel it's changing because I don't I don't
think that the delivery methodology defines the quality of a university.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
The quality of the university is the quality of the universe.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
So what I mean by this is, let's say, let's
take an example of Let's say Harvard, Right, So if
Harvard offers an online program and they offer a few
you know, people will assume that that's high quality because
it's Harvard.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Right.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
So, so what I mean by this is that either
the university has quality or it doesn't, and the delivery
methodology is the same. It's like you can have an
appointment with the doctor and you can be talking to
the doctor face to face or you can be talking
to the doctor through a computer.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
It's still the same doctor.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
So the doctor is going to be able to look
at the same blood exams and the same you know,
it's going to be able to assess you either through
a computer or face to face sort of in the
same way. It's still the same doctor. So that doesn't
make the doctor better or worse. And that's my point
with education is if the education with the culity of
the university is good and the delivery methodology should shouldn't matter.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
And basically, at your school, you can start any time.
Programs start once a month, you can work on your
own time. There's no set schedule. Talk to me a
little bit about that.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
Yeah, we we've you know, again one of these sort
of interesting coincidences that happened because we've built our school
to serve the military originally, so it's very flexible. We
start classes every month because we wanted to offer that
flexibility to the service members, and then we translate that
to quote unquote non military students. So you can start
(10:53):
classes every month. We have monthly starts. You can take
course per course, or you can take you know, several courses.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
At the same time. It's really up to you.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
If you need to put your studies on hold for
one or two months, that's not a problem at all.
So it's incredibly flexible and very much adapted to the
audience that we serve, which are working adults and working
profess and.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Professionals.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
You were talking about that being working professionals. How does
that kind of make a classroom different even at being
online for a student and the staff, because you learn
from each other.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Well, I actually think it's better, you know. I You
know again, I don't don't.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
I never like to compare with traditional education because I
never want to pass the image that I'm saying that
it's better or worse.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
It really depends on what your expectation is.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
But as a professional myself, like if I would do
an MBA now, for example, I did mind Tamagoba.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
That's if I wanted to do an MBI, I would.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
Much rather be in a classroom where everyone as a
career as experience. You might have some high highly ranked
military people, you might have some you know, senior managers.
I would much rather be in a classroom like that
where I feel that I could learn from my colleagues,
than be in a classroom full of you know, twenty
four years old, right, because I feel that I could
(12:16):
learn and get the experience, you know, share that experience.
So again I think it's it's great, and it's it's
also an advantage of APUs which our professors are faculty.
A lot of them are practitioners, meaning that they have
a real job and then they also teach, so it's
not just sort of this fury, you know, the theoretical
(12:38):
academic experience, but they teach based on their real experience,
and I think that's very valuable for the students.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
Let's talk about the degrees in the various certificates that
you all offer as well, because it's a wide range.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Yeah, we have.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Almost almost I think we have more than two hundred
programs now, all the way from certificates to associates, bachelors, masters,
and doctoral programs.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
In all areas.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
I mean, we have almost everything that is possible to
have in an online format. Of course we don't have
you know, you know, law degrees or med degrees, you know,
things like.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
That that are not possible to offer you.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
But everything else we have, and we keep expanding our portfolio.
We just launched some really cool certificates. We're about to
launch them right now in quantum computers, robotics AI. So
we are trying to keep up with, you know, the changes,
and trying to be at the forefront of offering really
innovative programs for our students. But if you go to
(13:39):
our website, if you asked our TDU, you will find
a very deep, wide range of programs and and in
you know, in businesses, are humanities, cybersecurity, I mean everything,
we have almost everything.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Earlier you talked about the financial situation, how this is
a very affordable school. You also offer a law for
our veterans. Give me a little bit more information about
both of those.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
Yeah, So, the United States government as a benefit for
military members which is called tuition assistance, And what that
means is that they pay two hundred and fifty dollars
per credit hour to any service member that wants to study.
So our our philosophy has always been too much that
(14:29):
price sort of no out of pocket costs where the
student can get the benefit the tuition assistance and study
quote unquote for.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Free, meaning no out of pocket cost for the student.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
So the military students, the undergraduate military students, they can
literally study for free, for free in the sense that
you know the government is paying, but they don't have
to put any out of pocket costs. And the graduate
students they have to pay a very small fee of
eighty five dollars per of course, and that's it. So
so why But the reason why I'm saying this is because,
(15:01):
contrary to other universities, our university, the cost structure was
created to serve those students. So our cost structure was
made based on the revenue that we get from those students.
That two hundred and fifty dollars, right, So it's very
hard for a university where the standard let's say price
per crede our tuition is eight hundred dollars, let's say,
(15:24):
which is very common, it's very hard for them to say, okay,
and I'm going to offer this to fifty because their
cost structure is is not aligned with that. So for us,
it's very easy to to sort of expand that benefit
that affordable tuition to other audiences that are not military.
For example, you mentioned veterans. We have a specific discount
(15:46):
grant for veterans where they get ten percent off in
undergravit and fifteen percent off in graviate student credit programs.
And then we have another great benefit, which is if
you are in a military family or if you're in
a veteran family, even if you're even if the military
or the veteran are not students with the PUS, I'm
(16:07):
going to give you the same price that I would.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Give a military or a veteran person.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
So let's say you are married to a service member,
You're going to get to fifty you know, and that's
sort of very hard to match. I mean, I would
be you know, it's very hard to find out there
where you, as a civilian, can study for twenty fifty
OUs per CREDI. So that's why I'm saying that we
were lucky in that sense that we built our cost
structure around the income that we receive, and now we
(16:32):
are able to expand that affordability to other audiences.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
If that makes sense, It does.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
It makes complete sense. In a few minutes ago, you
mentioned one of the used to be a buzzword AI,
artificial intelligence, and you really have have you mentioned offering
a program in AI studies? How has the APUs really
kind of embraced AI.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
Well, we were one of the first ones actually to
be very open about AI, and I would divide into
sort of categories. The first category is like what do
we do with AI and your operation? And the second
category is like what do you teach about? Right, So
on the first category, we have embraced AI for student services,
for career services, for mental health, for.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Content creation, and we continue to do so.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
You know, we are implementing our chatbots, you know, twenty
four to seven virtual tutors inside the classroom where the
students have always someone in a machine, but someone to
talk to. So we were one of the first ones
to fully embrace it and to change our academic policy
actually to say that it's okay to use AI in
(17:40):
the classroom and we are fine with using in the
assessments and everything for as long as you disclose it.
So you have to disclose it that whatever you used,
So we never try to fight it. We always try
to say always from the perspective of being a school
that teaches professionals because my logic, our logic, the provost
(18:00):
logic is Okay, if I'm teaching a professional, most likely
that professional one he or she graduates, E or she
will use AI, you know, in the real world, in
the real world. So why should we prevent that You're
doing this service to the students. If you say, okay,
I don't allow it. You actually want to encourage and
prepare the student to be ready for what is the
(18:22):
real world.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
So in terms of operations, we've been one of the.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
First enforcements out there adapting AI, but also in terms
of teaching AI.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
So we we are about to.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
Launch our Bachelors in AI, a Certificate in AI. We
are working on our Masters in AI. We are about
to launch certificate in quantum Computers, which is not necessarily I,
but it's you know, connected. We're launching a certificate in Robotics,
which again is not necessarily A, but it's very connected.
(18:59):
And we have a really cool initiative that we're launching
now with in Q one meaning as we.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Speak, which we made.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
We have this partnership with mi T where we're using
some of the content of some courses of m T
to be able to offer that content to our students.
So it's uh, it's uh, it's it's an agreement where
we can we can use the content that they have
in some courses and then we are going to offer
(19:30):
that MI T content it's ib A p U S
classes to to the APS students at the APS price point.
So that's something that we're very excited about.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
I'm gonna focus on you a little bit more again.
So you mentioned it a little bit earlier about your
business background. How does your expertise in the business world
then transition to help the students from.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
A p U S.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
Yeah, I'm uh, I'm usually I don't really like to
talk much about me, but I always say that I'm
a different president in the sense that not better or worse,
but certainly I'm not.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
A traditional university president.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
That you know, an academic career and three PhDs and
that kind of thing.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Right.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
I came from the business world, and you know, after
in my MBA, I still want to do my PhD.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
I'm going to work on that.
Speaker 3 (20:23):
But and I've been in educational for you know, almost
fifteen years. So, but certainly my background is different than
most presidents, and I think the benefit of that has
been that I have very strong, very strong opinions about
(20:45):
branding and how you position your institution. And I think
that's incredibly important because there are more than four thousand
colleges and universities just in the United States, and it's
very easy for you to look exactly the same as others.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Right there's four thousand of them.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
So we've been working very hard to improve the value
of our brand, how differentiate ourselves, how we communicate to
the market, how we expand our presence online in terms
of social media and things like that. For example, in
twenty twenty two, we had about three hundred thousand followers
on our social media and now we're more than one million,
(21:24):
so you know it's working that you know, we're getting
our name out there. I also say that, of course,
my background in marketing helps you know, to understand how
the dynamics of the market works. In general, we have
a great marketing team, so I try not to get
in their way, but I'm just saying that, you know,
I think that that background helps as well. I always
(21:46):
say that marketing is sort of building the bridge between
what you have and what the consumer wants to consume.
So you have to find a way to build that
bridge between what you're trying to offer what someone wants
to buy. And I think that in many cases in
education and in other products as well, but in education,
(22:06):
the marketing is very tactical and not very exciting. So again,
connected with the brand, we try to communicate a lot
of the benefits of the university, the benefits for us too,
So we try to use a lot of real people,
real families, how they transform their lives, make it very emotional.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
In the sense that, Okay, this is what it's going
to do for you.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
These are real cases, are real examples of how education
transforms your life. So I think having that marketing background helps.
And also I would say that I'm very driven by
having great talent around me. So I always try to
build great teams, and this is no different here.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
We have a team of great people.
Speaker 3 (22:51):
And I always say that, you know, there's no great
organization without great people, and the opposite is also true, right, So.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
I would say that those.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
Are the main differences that I have versus, you know,
lost a more traditional university president.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
You were talking about real people, real stories. Tell me
some of these success stories through.
Speaker 3 (23:10):
The Oh, oh my god, we have so many, you know,
we It's interesting because we have sort of everything.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
You know.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
We have the student that their their ambition is, you've
got some sort of mid level management job and take
care of their family, you know, and watch their kids
growing up, and you know, and the ambition professional ambition
is just okay, I want to stable job, and.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
That's fine, there's nothing wrong with that.
Speaker 3 (23:36):
And then we have people that you know, that become
incredibly relevant in their field of expertise. For example, the
Chief Medical Officer of NASA is a graduate from a
p US. The current chairman of the Chief of Staff,
which is the most important position in the military in
the United States, and I can say in the world
(23:57):
is a is a graduate of APUs and it was
also faculty. By the way, at some point, you know,
the first woman that that food the Thunderbirds is a
graduate from a PUS. So we have all these examples
of like high performance over achievers, but we also have
examples of you know, quote unquote normal people that they
(24:18):
just want to establish a good life for them. So
for example, commencement last year, which we do every year
on myy in Washington, d C. And it's a very
large event with eighteen thousand people.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
Last one.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
So there was this graduate he came, you know, I
was talking to him and and he said that he
left the military and his words not mindset.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
I was super lost. I didn't know what to do.
And then you know, I found the.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
PUS and I graduated cybersecurity and east words he said,
and now I don't know what.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
To do with to money because I've been so successful.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
Right, you know, good problem to have, but I don't
know exactly what that means in terms of, you know,
how much money is it? But but but for him,
it was a lot when that's really what matters, right,
And so we have a lot of these stories of
like pretty much like my family. You know, to be honest,
like you know that you are able to transform your
life and to achieve things that you otherwise would not
(25:13):
be possible. I always, you know, I tell this this story,
but it's true because think about my parents. They were
born in a village with where my grandparents did not
know how to read, they did not know how to write.
You know, they were farmers. They're very humble people. If
(25:33):
my parents would not have had access to education, probably
I would still be living in that village, right, and
I would be you know a fisherman or and there's
nothing wrong with that, But I'm just saying that my.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Life would be vastly different, vastly different, and certainly I
would not be here in the US. Certainly I would
not be here talking to you. Certainly I would not
have the son that I have right now. You know.
Speaker 3 (25:55):
Certainly my life would be completely different. And that was
all because of education. So education impacts things in ways
that are very hard to predict, and that they're very powerful.
But it's very hard for people to realize because you
really have to go back in time and where did
it start. It's almost like this butterfly fact, like you
have to go back and back and back to the
(26:16):
point of where everything started. And the point for me
in my life where everything started was when my parents
decided to go to college. And this was even before
I was born. So they transform my life even before
I existed. And that's what I think happens with a
lot of our students, which we have a large percentage
of students, and I don't know how much it is
(26:37):
right now, but let's say at least twenty to thirty
percent of our students are probably first generation. And I
know that their families and their lives are going to
be transformed as well. That's really cool, That's really satisfactory
to me to see that we you know, we played
a small role in doing that.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
Earlier you talked about how APUs has been evolving. How
do you continue to evolve? Where do you see the program,
say in a decade or so.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
Yeah, we've been evolving in different ways.
Speaker 3 (27:05):
So one is been programmeric trying to expand our portfolio,
as I said, having these more of cutting edge programs
and being at the forefront of offering programs that typically
a university like Hours would not do right. Let's say,
for example, if you take quantum computers, you know, you
probably expect MIT to offer that, or you know, or Standford,
(27:27):
but certainly probably not APOS. So we try to be
at the forefront of offering this type of edgy in
a very programs but for a price point that is
very affordable. So we want to continue doing that and
expanding the portfolio in that way. We want to expand
our presence, as I said, in the US outside the
traditional military audiences. Although we want to continue being the
(27:51):
leader that's our DNA, it will never change, but we
also want to expand internationally, and this is an effort
that we're just starting right now, and you know, we
we're pushed out. I think in Mexico, Columbia, we have
some plans in Europe, in the Emirates, So I think.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
That's going to be very successful.
Speaker 3 (28:09):
And maybe you know, in three or four years when
we talk again, I'm sure that we're gonna have thousands
of students outside the US. So that's exciting for us,
and we want to continue to grow. I mean we,
as I told you, we are now number probably number ten,
number nine in terms of size. You know that we're
in the top ten of the largest universities in our states,
and I would like to continue to climb that that
(28:31):
ranking and hopefully get to an even more impressive result.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
If you could define your own legacy as a leader,
what do you want it to be?
Speaker 2 (28:44):
Yeah, I think you know.
Speaker 3 (28:48):
When I think about leadership in my case, I don't
know you, but when I think about great people that
I work with or that I work for, it's always
about how much I developed myself and how they made
me feel right. Did they made me feel did was
I supported I empowered? Was I did I feel that
(29:09):
I was growing that I was explaining myself that I
was learning. So I would like to be remember, uh,
you know, for the people that work with me, by
the people that work with me as someone that had
a positive impact in their careers, and that's someone that
they feel that they, you know, they are better professionals
after working with me than they were before, and and
(29:31):
that the experience has been positive and rewarding. So I
think that's the job. You know, the job of leadership
is really to develop others. That's the main job, I
would say, probably not the only job, but one of
the most important jobs is to develop the ones that
work with you and for you, and hopefully they will
be able to acknowledge that that's what happened.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
What's your final takeaway for our listeners about the American
public university system.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
I take aways to you know, if you are inter
sted in going back to school or if you're interested
in pursuing a new degree, I would encourage you to
go and take a look because it's a really good
school where we have very affordable prices, we have really
high quality and although it's not a name that traditionally
is out there as others, it's not a name that
(30:18):
is as known as the sort of as other names.
I would say that it's a great option to consider,
and I would recommend to go to our website and
take a look of all the things that we offer,
and you might.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
Be positively surprised. Your website is APUs dot TDU.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
All right, thank you so much for joining us here today,
new No Fernandez, the president of the American Public University System,
and thank you for joining us on our CEOs You
Should Know series
Welcome to iHeartRadio CEOs you should know series. I'm Eric Rodriguez.
Today we're catching up with Newno Fernandez, the president of
American Public University System. Thank you so much for joining us.
So before we get into the American Public University System,
let's learn a little bit about you. First, tell me
about your history, where you're from, your education, kind of
your personal journey here.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Yeah. Sure.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
I was born in a small country in Europe, in Portugal,
and I lived in Portugal until I was about twenty
years old. Then I got to spend some time in
the UK and then my first real job was in Madrid,
in Spain, and I worked for an international company, a
German company called Bosch, you might have heard the name.
(00:41):
And I've worked for them for eleven years, different roles
product management, sales, marketing, and I was, you know, I
traveled alfwhere around the world with them. I lived in Brazil,
I lived in Mexico, spent some time in Colombia and
always working with sales and Marketingually, I became responsible of
one of their divisions in Mexico City, and then I
(01:04):
came to the US with them in the year two
thousand and eight. As I was telling you as their
senior vice president of marketing for the US and Canada,
and I've done that for about four or five years,
and around the year twenty twelve, I moved to higher
education and I've been working high education since then. I
(01:26):
started in a prior company as their CMO, eventually became
the president cy of that company, and then in the
year twenty twenty two, I moved to American Public University
system as a president and that's where I'm right now.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
So tell me what caused that transition to go from
the business world to higher education.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
What motivated Yeah, it was not intentional. It was more
like a coincidence, a good one, I would say. So
I was I had a very nice career at BOSH,
and you know, I was progressing, developing myself and I
was approached by ed Hunter in Miami around the year
twenty twelve, as I was telling you, and they were
(02:03):
looking for a CMO for an education company. And until
that point in time, I never really thought about education
as something that you could market, that you could sell,
that you could you know, offer, because I was in
the consumer goods world, so you know, it's like physical things.
But then I started thinking about my own journey and
my family journey and my parents. I always tell the story,
(02:25):
but I think it's relevant.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
For the discussion.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
My parents are first generation college graduates, and they were
born in a you know, in a very small village
in Portugal with with you know, two hundred people, So
my grandparents, they did not know how to read all right,
So I could I could witness how much education transform
their lives and the possibilities that it opened for themselves
(02:48):
and consequently for me, and I thought that it would
be really cool to be able to do something similar
for other people, to offer expand access to education afforded
by education, so that more people could transform their lives,
just like my family transform their lives and my life consequently.
So as I started thinking about it, I said, well,
(03:10):
it's you know, I'm going to do it, And I
took the job as the chief marketing officer of that company.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
At the time, it was a company that was rapidly expanding.
We were in.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
Ten countries and at our peak we had more than
three hundred thousand students, so it was a very large organization.
And eventually I became the president and c of that company,
and I've been in higher education since.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Then, So what drove you to the American public university system.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
So it was interesting because I've I spent almost ten
years in my prior organization where I was just telling you,
I started the CMO and then I became the president
and CEO, and I've been living in the US since
two thousand and eight, and I always had this curiosity
and this interest of working in the US for the
(03:58):
US in education.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Er job was working in the US but for global education.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Right we had we had universities in Colombia, at universities
in Mexico, and we had business in South Africa and London,
in the UK, in Spain, in Greece at some point,
so we were all over the world. But I always
had this curiosity of being able to work in the
US for the US and really being able to see
how much we could I could translate from my own
(04:24):
experience to be competitive in the US market, which always
attracted me significantly. So in twenty twenty two, again by coincidence,
I was approached again by another head hunter and he
presented me this opportunity with the American Public university system,
and I was immediately attracted to it for different reasons.
(04:44):
So the first one being that it's you know, a
full at American university working specifically for the US, but
also because of their mission. You know, they have this
military background. My father was in the military in Portugal,
of course, so I always had a lot of respect
for people that serve the countries and I was very
(05:06):
intrigued by American university systems.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
So I decided to.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
Take the job, and I started in September of twenty
twenty two.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
And here I am.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
You mentioned the mission statement of APUs. Let's go into
that a little bit. What makes it so unique.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
It's very unique.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
You know, not a lot of people know about a PUS,
but the reality is that it's one of the ten
largest universities in the United States. I think we're number
nine or ten right now. We have about ninety thousand students.
But the university was founded by a veteran with the purpose,
the original purpose of serving the military. So that's sort
(05:45):
of our DNA how it was created, and until today,
the large majority of our students are military or veterans. However,
in the last years, and this is something that I've
been sponsoring and championing with my team, is that we
know that we have a very high quality education, it's
very affordable, and we thought, well, why can't we offer
(06:06):
these also to non military people that would benefit from
the same quality education for a very affordable price, you know,
in this online environment that is ly flexible. So we've
been we started some efforts to offer our products our
services to non military students, especially to their families, the
(06:27):
extended families of the military. And nowadays almost twenty percent
of our population now is quote un called civilians, non
non military students. So we are still very unique in
the sense that we are very you know, military centric centric,
but we are expanding also to other audiences, and we
(06:47):
are also expanding internationally, which is very exciting as well,
because I know there's a because of my background, I
know there's a high demand and a high interest for
American education outside the US. The US is still the
sort of scene as the number one player in the
world in terms of education. A lot of people like
to come here, but they can't. You know, it's expensive,
(07:08):
you have to visa problems, you know, the immigration. You know,
if you have a family, it's very hard for you
to put your life on hold for two years and
say and I'm going to go to the US, So
we are taking American education to them, and we have
a very competitive price point.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
So we're very excited about that. That is something new
that we're just starting.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
You mentioned also about online, and that's what makes the
school unique because you can pretty much whenever you have opportunities,
you can sit down and work.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Yeah, we are one other percent online.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Most schools, particularly after COVID, they've moved also to an
online environment environment, but of course they offer the will
offer traditional education. My view is that it's not that
online is better or worse than traditional education. Is more
about what the expectations and the needs of the students are.
(08:01):
So we serve a lot of as I told, a
lot of military students, but we serve a lot of
adult learners that you know, they have a family, that
their life, they have worked, so it's very hard for
them to take a traditional education path, you know, I'd
say virtually impossible. So online offers that flexibility that you
can study, you know, after hours, you can.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
Study during the weekend.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
If you didn't learn something that you feel I don't
really understand is you can always go back and relearn it.
So there are a lot of advantages of studying online.
This is not to say that traditional education again is
better or worse. I think both of them can be
equally good or equally bad. It depends on the university.
And this is something that is rapidly changing. This online
(08:41):
reputation is to be not very appreciated, but I think
that that is rapidly changing and people are understanding that
it is actually the same level of quality is just
in a different format of delivery.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Do you feel that reputation has changed because originally when
you sit an online school, people kind of step away. Well,
but you're fully accredited, and it's we.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
Are fully accredited by HLC, the Higher Learning Commission, which
accredits some of the most raptable universities in the United States.
And I feel it's changing because I don't I don't
think that the delivery methodology defines the quality of a university.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
The quality of the university is the quality of the universe.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
So what I mean by this is, let's say, let's
take an example of Let's say Harvard, Right, So if
Harvard offers an online program and they offer a few
you know, people will assume that that's high quality because
it's Harvard.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Right.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
So, so what I mean by this is that either
the university has quality or it doesn't, and the delivery
methodology is the same. It's like you can have an
appointment with the doctor and you can be talking to
the doctor face to face or you can be talking
to the doctor through a computer.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
It's still the same doctor.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
So the doctor is going to be able to look
at the same blood exams and the same you know,
it's going to be able to assess you either through
a computer or face to face sort of in the
same way. It's still the same doctor. So that doesn't
make the doctor better or worse. And that's my point
with education is if the education with the culity of
the university is good and the delivery methodology should shouldn't matter.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
And basically, at your school, you can start any time.
Programs start once a month, you can work on your
own time. There's no set schedule. Talk to me a
little bit about that.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
Yeah, we we've you know, again one of these sort
of interesting coincidences that happened because we've built our school
to serve the military originally, so it's very flexible. We
start classes every month because we wanted to offer that
flexibility to the service members, and then we translate that
to quote unquote non military students. So you can start
(10:53):
classes every month. We have monthly starts. You can take
course per course, or you can take you know, several courses.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
At the same time. It's really up to you.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
If you need to put your studies on hold for
one or two months, that's not a problem at all.
So it's incredibly flexible and very much adapted to the
audience that we serve, which are working adults and working
profess and.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Professionals.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
You were talking about that being working professionals. How does
that kind of make a classroom different even at being
online for a student and the staff, because you learn
from each other.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Well, I actually think it's better, you know. I You
know again, I don't don't.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
I never like to compare with traditional education because I
never want to pass the image that I'm saying that
it's better or worse.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
It really depends on what your expectation is.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
But as a professional myself, like if I would do
an MBA now, for example, I did mind Tamagoba.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
That's if I wanted to do an MBI, I would.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
Much rather be in a classroom where everyone as a
career as experience. You might have some high highly ranked
military people, you might have some you know, senior managers.
I would much rather be in a classroom like that
where I feel that I could learn from my colleagues,
than be in a classroom full of you know, twenty
four years old, right, because I feel that I could
(12:16):
learn and get the experience, you know, share that experience.
So again I think it's it's great, and it's it's
also an advantage of APUs which our professors are faculty.
A lot of them are practitioners, meaning that they have
a real job and then they also teach, so it's
not just sort of this fury, you know, the theoretical
(12:38):
academic experience, but they teach based on their real experience,
and I think that's very valuable for the students.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
Let's talk about the degrees in the various certificates that
you all offer as well, because it's a wide range.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Yeah, we have.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Almost almost I think we have more than two hundred
programs now, all the way from certificates to associates, bachelors, masters,
and doctoral programs.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
In all areas.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
I mean, we have almost everything that is possible to
have in an online format. Of course we don't have
you know, you know, law degrees or med degrees, you know,
things like.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
That that are not possible to offer you.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
But everything else we have, and we keep expanding our portfolio.
We just launched some really cool certificates. We're about to
launch them right now in quantum computers, robotics AI. So
we are trying to keep up with, you know, the changes,
and trying to be at the forefront of offering really
innovative programs for our students. But if you go to
(13:39):
our website, if you asked our TDU, you will find
a very deep, wide range of programs and and in
you know, in businesses, are humanities, cybersecurity, I mean everything,
we have almost everything.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Earlier you talked about the financial situation, how this is
a very affordable school. You also offer a law for
our veterans. Give me a little bit more information about
both of those.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
Yeah, So, the United States government as a benefit for
military members which is called tuition assistance, And what that
means is that they pay two hundred and fifty dollars
per credit hour to any service member that wants to study.
So our our philosophy has always been too much that
(14:29):
price sort of no out of pocket costs where the
student can get the benefit the tuition assistance and study
quote unquote for.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Free, meaning no out of pocket cost for the student.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
So the military students, the undergraduate military students, they can
literally study for free, for free in the sense that
you know the government is paying, but they don't have
to put any out of pocket costs. And the graduate
students they have to pay a very small fee of
eighty five dollars per of course, and that's it. So
so why But the reason why I'm saying this is because,
(15:01):
contrary to other universities, our university, the cost structure was
created to serve those students. So our cost structure was
made based on the revenue that we get from those students.
That two hundred and fifty dollars, right, So it's very
hard for a university where the standard let's say price
per crede our tuition is eight hundred dollars, let's say,
(15:24):
which is very common, it's very hard for them to say, okay,
and I'm going to offer this to fifty because their
cost structure is is not aligned with that. So for us,
it's very easy to to sort of expand that benefit
that affordable tuition to other audiences that are not military.
For example, you mentioned veterans. We have a specific discount
(15:46):
grant for veterans where they get ten percent off in
undergravit and fifteen percent off in graviate student credit programs.
And then we have another great benefit, which is if
you are in a military family or if you're in
a veteran family, even if you're even if the military
or the veteran are not students with the PUS, I'm
(16:07):
going to give you the same price that I would.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Give a military or a veteran person.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
So let's say you are married to a service member,
You're going to get to fifty you know, and that's
sort of very hard to match. I mean, I would
be you know, it's very hard to find out there
where you, as a civilian, can study for twenty fifty
OUs per CREDI. So that's why I'm saying that we
were lucky in that sense that we built our cost
structure around the income that we receive, and now we
(16:32):
are able to expand that affordability to other audiences.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
If that makes sense, It does.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
It makes complete sense. In a few minutes ago, you
mentioned one of the used to be a buzzword AI,
artificial intelligence, and you really have have you mentioned offering
a program in AI studies? How has the APUs really
kind of embraced AI.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
Well, we were one of the first ones actually to
be very open about AI, and I would divide into
sort of categories. The first category is like what do
we do with AI and your operation? And the second
category is like what do you teach about? Right, So
on the first category, we have embraced AI for student services,
for career services, for mental health, for.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Content creation, and we continue to do so.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
You know, we are implementing our chatbots, you know, twenty
four to seven virtual tutors inside the classroom where the
students have always someone in a machine, but someone to
talk to. So we were one of the first ones
to fully embrace it and to change our academic policy
actually to say that it's okay to use AI in
(17:40):
the classroom and we are fine with using in the
assessments and everything for as long as you disclose it.
So you have to disclose it that whatever you used,
So we never try to fight it. We always try
to say always from the perspective of being a school
that teaches professionals because my logic, our logic, the provost
(18:00):
logic is Okay, if I'm teaching a professional, most likely
that professional one he or she graduates, E or she
will use AI, you know, in the real world, in
the real world. So why should we prevent that You're
doing this service to the students. If you say, okay,
I don't allow it. You actually want to encourage and
prepare the student to be ready for what is the
(18:22):
real world.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
So in terms of operations, we've been one of the.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
First enforcements out there adapting AI, but also in terms
of teaching AI.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
So we we are about to.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
Launch our Bachelors in AI, a Certificate in AI. We
are working on our Masters in AI. We are about
to launch certificate in quantum Computers, which is not necessarily I,
but it's you know, connected. We're launching a certificate in Robotics,
which again is not necessarily A, but it's very connected.
(18:59):
And we have a really cool initiative that we're launching
now with in Q one meaning as we.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Speak, which we made.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
We have this partnership with mi T where we're using
some of the content of some courses of m T
to be able to offer that content to our students.
So it's uh, it's uh, it's it's an agreement where
we can we can use the content that they have
in some courses and then we are going to offer
(19:30):
that MI T content it's ib A p U S
classes to to the APS students at the APS price point.
So that's something that we're very excited about.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
I'm gonna focus on you a little bit more again.
So you mentioned it a little bit earlier about your
business background. How does your expertise in the business world
then transition to help the students from.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
A p U S.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
Yeah, I'm uh, I'm usually I don't really like to
talk much about me, but I always say that I'm
a different president in the sense that not better or worse,
but certainly I'm not.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
A traditional university president.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
That you know, an academic career and three PhDs and
that kind of thing.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Right.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
I came from the business world, and you know, after
in my MBA, I still want to do my PhD.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
I'm going to work on that.
Speaker 3 (20:23):
But and I've been in educational for you know, almost
fifteen years. So, but certainly my background is different than
most presidents, and I think the benefit of that has
been that I have very strong, very strong opinions about
(20:45):
branding and how you position your institution. And I think
that's incredibly important because there are more than four thousand
colleges and universities just in the United States, and it's
very easy for you to look exactly the same as others.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Right there's four thousand of them.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
So we've been working very hard to improve the value
of our brand, how differentiate ourselves, how we communicate to
the market, how we expand our presence online in terms
of social media and things like that. For example, in
twenty twenty two, we had about three hundred thousand followers
on our social media and now we're more than one million,
(21:24):
so you know it's working that you know, we're getting
our name out there. I also say that, of course,
my background in marketing helps you know, to understand how
the dynamics of the market works. In general, we have
a great marketing team, so I try not to get
in their way, but I'm just saying that, you know,
I think that that background helps as well. I always
(21:46):
say that marketing is sort of building the bridge between
what you have and what the consumer wants to consume.
So you have to find a way to build that
bridge between what you're trying to offer what someone wants
to buy. And I think that in many cases in
education and in other products as well, but in education,
(22:06):
the marketing is very tactical and not very exciting. So again,
connected with the brand, we try to communicate a lot
of the benefits of the university, the benefits for us too,
So we try to use a lot of real people,
real families, how they transform their lives, make it very emotional.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
In the sense that, Okay, this is what it's going
to do for you.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
These are real cases, are real examples of how education
transforms your life. So I think having that marketing background helps.
And also I would say that I'm very driven by
having great talent around me. So I always try to
build great teams, and this is no different here.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
We have a team of great people.
Speaker 3 (22:51):
And I always say that, you know, there's no great
organization without great people, and the opposite is also true, right, So.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
I would say that those.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
Are the main differences that I have versus, you know,
lost a more traditional university president.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
You were talking about real people, real stories. Tell me
some of these success stories through.
Speaker 3 (23:10):
The Oh, oh my god, we have so many, you know,
we It's interesting because we have sort of everything.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
You know.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
We have the student that their their ambition is, you've
got some sort of mid level management job and take
care of their family, you know, and watch their kids
growing up, and you know, and the ambition professional ambition
is just okay, I want to stable job, and.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
That's fine, there's nothing wrong with that.
Speaker 3 (23:36):
And then we have people that you know, that become
incredibly relevant in their field of expertise. For example, the
Chief Medical Officer of NASA is a graduate from a
p US. The current chairman of the Chief of Staff,
which is the most important position in the military in
the United States, and I can say in the world
(23:57):
is a is a graduate of APUs and it was
also faculty. By the way, at some point, you know,
the first woman that that food the Thunderbirds is a
graduate from a PUS. So we have all these examples
of like high performance over achievers, but we also have
examples of you know, quote unquote normal people that they
(24:18):
just want to establish a good life for them. So
for example, commencement last year, which we do every year
on myy in Washington, d C. And it's a very
large event with eighteen thousand people.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
Last one.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
So there was this graduate he came, you know, I
was talking to him and and he said that he
left the military and his words not mindset.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
I was super lost. I didn't know what to do.
And then you know, I found the.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
PUS and I graduated cybersecurity and east words he said,
and now I don't know what.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
To do with to money because I've been so successful.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
Right, you know, good problem to have, but I don't
know exactly what that means in terms of, you know,
how much money is it? But but but for him,
it was a lot when that's really what matters, right,
And so we have a lot of these stories of
like pretty much like my family. You know, to be honest,
like you know that you are able to transform your
life and to achieve things that you otherwise would not
(25:13):
be possible. I always, you know, I tell this this story,
but it's true because think about my parents. They were
born in a village with where my grandparents did not
know how to read, they did not know how to write.
You know, they were farmers. They're very humble people. If
(25:33):
my parents would not have had access to education, probably
I would still be living in that village, right, and
I would be you know a fisherman or and there's
nothing wrong with that, But I'm just saying that my.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Life would be vastly different, vastly different, and certainly I
would not be here in the US. Certainly I would
not be here talking to you. Certainly I would not
have the son that I have right now. You know.
Speaker 3 (25:55):
Certainly my life would be completely different. And that was
all because of education. So education impacts things in ways
that are very hard to predict, and that they're very powerful.
But it's very hard for people to realize because you
really have to go back in time and where did
it start. It's almost like this butterfly fact, like you
have to go back and back and back to the
(26:16):
point of where everything started. And the point for me
in my life where everything started was when my parents
decided to go to college. And this was even before
I was born. So they transform my life even before
I existed. And that's what I think happens with a
lot of our students, which we have a large percentage
of students, and I don't know how much it is
(26:37):
right now, but let's say at least twenty to thirty
percent of our students are probably first generation. And I
know that their families and their lives are going to
be transformed as well. That's really cool, That's really satisfactory
to me to see that we you know, we played
a small role in doing that.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
Earlier you talked about how APUs has been evolving. How
do you continue to evolve? Where do you see the program,
say in a decade or so.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
Yeah, we've been evolving in different ways.
Speaker 3 (27:05):
So one is been programmeric trying to expand our portfolio,
as I said, having these more of cutting edge programs
and being at the forefront of offering programs that typically
a university like Hours would not do right. Let's say,
for example, if you take quantum computers, you know, you
probably expect MIT to offer that, or you know, or Standford,
(27:27):
but certainly probably not APOS. So we try to be
at the forefront of offering this type of edgy in
a very programs but for a price point that is
very affordable. So we want to continue doing that and
expanding the portfolio in that way. We want to expand
our presence, as I said, in the US outside the
traditional military audiences. Although we want to continue being the
(27:51):
leader that's our DNA, it will never change, but we
also want to expand internationally, and this is an effort
that we're just starting right now, and you know, we
we're pushed out. I think in Mexico, Columbia, we have
some plans in Europe, in the Emirates, So I think.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
That's going to be very successful.
Speaker 3 (28:09):
And maybe you know, in three or four years when
we talk again, I'm sure that we're gonna have thousands
of students outside the US. So that's exciting for us,
and we want to continue to grow. I mean we,
as I told you, we are now number probably number ten,
number nine in terms of size. You know that we're
in the top ten of the largest universities in our states,
and I would like to continue to climb that that
(28:31):
ranking and hopefully get to an even more impressive result.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
If you could define your own legacy as a leader,
what do you want it to be?
Speaker 2 (28:44):
Yeah, I think you know.
Speaker 3 (28:48):
When I think about leadership in my case, I don't
know you, but when I think about great people that
I work with or that I work for, it's always
about how much I developed myself and how they made
me feel right. Did they made me feel did was
I supported I empowered? Was I did I feel that
(29:09):
I was growing that I was explaining myself that I
was learning. So I would like to be remember, uh,
you know, for the people that work with me, by
the people that work with me as someone that had
a positive impact in their careers, and that's someone that
they feel that they, you know, they are better professionals
after working with me than they were before, and and
(29:31):
that the experience has been positive and rewarding. So I
think that's the job. You know, the job of leadership
is really to develop others. That's the main job, I
would say, probably not the only job, but one of
the most important jobs is to develop the ones that
work with you and for you, and hopefully they will
be able to acknowledge that that's what happened.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
What's your final takeaway for our listeners about the American
public university system.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
I take aways to you know, if you are inter
sted in going back to school or if you're interested
in pursuing a new degree, I would encourage you to
go and take a look because it's a really good
school where we have very affordable prices, we have really
high quality and although it's not a name that traditionally
is out there as others, it's not a name that
(30:18):
is as known as the sort of as other names.
I would say that it's a great option to consider,
and I would recommend to go to our website and
take a look of all the things that we offer,
and you might.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
Be positively surprised. Your website is APUs dot TDU.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
All right, thank you so much for joining us here today,
new No Fernandez, the president of the American Public University System,
and thank you for joining us on our CEOs You
Should Know series
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