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September 9, 2025 32 mins

In this era of uncertainty, many parents view highly-selective colleges as the best bet for their student’s futures. In his new book just out this month, Future U co-host Jeff Selingo challenges that assumption. For this episode, Jeff moves from the host chair to being a guest to share highlights from the book, ‘Dream School.’ He talks about going beyond which college’s name looks most impressive as a bumper sticker on the family car to focusing on the quality of a college’s teaching, whether it really fits the budget, and other factors that are specific to each student. This episode is made with support from Ascendium Education Group.

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Jeff Selingo’s new book, Dream School

Chapters

0:00 - Intro
2:06 - Why write this book?
3:23 - The ‘New Dream School’ List
11:28 - When Mismatched Schools Cause Dropouts
14:26 - Sponsor Break
16:51 - The Importance of Making Trade-offs
18:44 - Understanding What’s Motivating Choice
19:35 - How AI is Impacting Jobs and Causing Uncertainty About College
20:56 - What Should Colleges Do?
23:23 - Giving Families ‘Social Proof’ of a Broader Group of College
25:29 - The Doom Loop of College Finances
27:56 - How Future U Shaped the Book
29:14 - How Jeff Gets the Word Out on His Book

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Dream School: Finding the College That's Right for You

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