Hi there Reader,

Hope your week is going as well as can be...

We've got a lot to talk about this week, so let's dive in...

The FAFSA Mess, Transparency Gaps, and a Smarter Model for Student Aid

Guest: Chris Abkarians, Co-CEO of Juno

Last week, I sat down with Chris Abkarians to unpack the FAFSA failure, the crumbling trust in federal aid systems, and the quiet emergence of more equitable models for student borrowing and pricing.

A few takeaways:

• FAFSA Fallout Isn’t Just Tech: Chris makes it plain: the current federal aid chaos isn’t a glitch—it’s a symptom of deeper issues in yield modeling, trust, and how institutions communicate value.
• A New Collective Model: Juno pools students to negotiate better loan rates—an elegant hack to reverse engineer pricing leverage in students' favor. But underneath it all, Juno is signaling a much deeper shift: student finance products built around transparency and collective agency.
• Trust Is the Business Model: In an era of enrollment cliffs and economic skepticism, Juno’s growth hinges on student trust—not just CAC. Chris’ take on product-market fit? It’s emotional intelligence plus ruthless iteration.

​Clip; Full convo→​

New York’s Free Community College for Adults (Higher Ed Dive)

New York just passed legislation offering tuition-free community college to adult learners—no income cap.

This move could reshape nontraditional enrollment pipelines, especially for institutions willing to embrace short-cycle, career-aligned programs.

👀 Watch: Expect other states to follow, but beware of the “build it and they will come” fallacy...

This will require back-end investment in advising, childcare, and stackable pathways—not just tuition waivers.

Left & Right Agree: Higher Ed Needs to Change (Chronicle Opinion)

Professor Michael Clune makes a compelling case that a new bipartisan coalition is emerging - not to destroy higher ed, but to reform it.

And the enemy?

Administrative bloat, partisan monocultures, and pricing opacity.

• From Inside the Academy: Even liberal faculty are echoing conservative critiques—like the unchecked growth of administrators and performative DEI.
• Reform vs. Revenge: The real divide now isn’t left vs. right—it’s reformers vs. wreckers. Institutions that can tell the difference will adapt. Those that can’t will be in the political crosshairs every cycle.

Second-Order Takeaway: Campus leaders must walk the tightrope—defending core values while signaling reform, not just resistance.

​Full piece. ​

Wisdom from the Edge: John Perry Barlow's Rules for Students (and Adults)

John Perry Barlow was a founding member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a lyricist for the Grateful Dead, and one of the early architects of digital freedom.

He wrote this list as advice for students—but it reads like a blueprint for living a principled, interesting life.

It's raw, smart, and refreshingly unpolished—like a beat poet wandered into a commencement address and just started spitting truth.
​📜 Read the full list →​

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BONUS INSIGHT: What Higher Ed Leaders Can Learn from Retail's Shift (Statista+ Whitepaper)

The New Consumer Reality breaks down how buyers think now—and why your pricing, branding, and digital strategy might already be outdated.

Takeaways:

• Price Sensitivity Is Up, Especially Among Gen X and Boomers: Even high-income shoppers are getting pragmatic—making institutions that lean premium without clear value more vulnerable.
• Brand Loyalty Is Down. Trust and Transparency Are Everything: Big takeaway? Smart over expensive is winning. Institutions must show ROI, not just claim prestige.

Strategy Playbook for Institutions:

• Drop the “middle of the road” messaging. Stand for affordability or elite value. Not both.
• Use comparison dashboards and transparent pricing tools in admissions.
• Treat enrollment marketing like omnichannel eCommerce.

📥 Want to explore how we’re surfacing hidden insights across 60+ financial and operational indicators?
👉 Try this live benchmarking demo​
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Best,

-Mike O’Connor

O'Connor & Associates

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