In this episode of the FutureU Podcast, hosts Michael Horn and Jeff Selingo sit down with Jonathan Koppell, president of Montclair State University, to discuss how the university has defied trends in higher education by significantly increasing its enrollment. Over the past two years, Montclair State has grown by 2,000 students, reaching nearly 24,000, despite New Jersey’s declining number of high school graduates and its reputation as a net exporter of college students.
Koppell credits this success to a combination of strategic adaptability and innovative programming. Drawing on lessons from his experience at Arizona State University, he highlights the importance of being responsive to the changing needs of students and society. Key initiatives include creating pathways specifically designed to engage underserved populations, particularly male students of color, and offering flexible, practical programs that resonate with local and regional communities.
“We weren’t afraid to embrace change. We didn’t see that as an indictment of the status quo, more as an opportunity to be responsive to the needs of the world around us, to be cognizant that higher education is changing and that to be static is in some sense to invite failure.”