Scott Stallman, President of Dunwoody College of Technology, joins the Twin Cities Business Show to discuss why higher education is facing generational challenges, what Minnesota needs to build the workforce of the future, the careers that have salaries that might surprise you, and where the economy is headed. Dunwoody partners with corporations across the state to help build a pipeline of skilled workers.

While many colleges have seen their enrollment drop, Dunwoody’s is up 45% since 2015.

From the coming enrollment cliff in higher education to artificial intelligence to automation to skilled trades to young people today, Stallman explains why Dunwoody is taking a dramatically different approach to preparing students for high-paying, high-demand careers.

In this episode:

• 00:00 – Introduction
• 00:42 – What makes Dunwoody College unique?
• 03:48 – The highest-paying careers people overlook
• 04:08 – The $80,000 surveying job (plus a signing bonus)
• 06:43 – How Dunwoody partners directly with industry
• 09:58 – Why higher education is undergoing a seismic shift
• 17:20 – Why many colleges will become smaller or disappear
• 18:24 – The tough decisions that transformed Dunwoody
• 19:28 – Why today’s engineers need to know how to use a wrench
• 22:40 – The real return on investment of a college degree
• 23:46 – Do electricians really make as much as lawyers?
• 25:30 – Why technical education costs so much to deliver
• 28:36 – How students build real products not just classroom projects
• 34:48 – Student inventions solving real business problems
• 37:48 – The future of AI, automation, and Minnesota’s workforce
• 41:35 – The one thing Scott would change about American high schools