Hacking College Learning Community

Overview

In the years since the Covid-19 pandemic, academic administrators have faced growing pressures to transform their institutions— community colleges, big public universities, or small private colleges — to address the pervasive public questions about the value of a college education and its connection to meaningful, marketable careers after graduation.  The current political climate has dramatically exacerbated these critical questions.

A 2023 Harvard study of teenagers and young adults reported that nearly 60 percent of respondents felt a lack of purpose and meaning. Students who feel that they are not heading toward degrees that reflect their interest and aspirations may drop out or graduate with regrets, further eroding the value of college.  

Hacking College: Why the Major Doesn’t Matter — and What Really Does (Laff & Carlson, 2025) provides deep insights into how educators can help students better realize their hidden intellectualism, develop lifelong capabilities, and achieve their life goals. The book shows how the pervasive narrative about “lucrative” or “useless” majors confuses students on the way into college — and how the silos and structures within institutions can exacerbate the problem, leading students to create “empty college degrees.”

A group of academic leaders reviewed the book extensively over the past several months. This spring, the University of Minnesota’s Design Center is hosting a learning community aimed to create a network of local, regional, and national leaders focused on operationalizing the frameworks presented in Hacking College, inspiring transformative change in how we address career readiness and academic success.

College and university professionals will gather online, consider thought-provoking questions, and create plans for implementing in practice, with authors Ned Laff and Scott Carlson joining the conversation.  Over the course of two months — from late May to July — advisors, administrators, faculty and staff across multiple sectors will be provided an opportunity to co-create transformative ideas in their areas of expertise.  Members of the Hacking College Learning Community will be provided a set of thought-provoking questions to consider as they explore chapters in the book, have an opportunity to hear perspectives from national experts, and gather to imagine next steps.

Outcomes and Goals of the Learning Community

• National conversation around how Hacking College can affect the current conditions in higher education, especially in an environment that focuses more on the students than research.
• Ideation of best practices for advising, especially first-generation and Pell-eligible students.
• Development around the application of Hacking College to a broad spectrum of students that are underappreciated including rural students and adult learners.
• Co-creation in applying Hacking College to meet the new skills and competencies needed in a future dramatically affected by AI and constant change.

Dates for the One Hour On-Line Hacking College
Learning Community Discussions

This event is sponsored by the 
Minnesota Design Center - College of Design at the University of Minnesota.