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How do we measure learning? It’s a question that challenges educators, as a rapidly changing landscape keeps everyone scrambling to catch up with evolving technologies, ever-expanding content, and the need to blend real-world experiences with tried-and-true curriculum. For over 100 years, part of the answer to that question has been the Carnegie Unit, a measurement that represents time spent learning a subject. And now, the vice president for educational transformation at the Carnegie Foundation says that answer needs to change.

Diego Arambula joins host Morva McDonald for an in-depth look at how reliance on the Carnegie Unit has shaped education in this country, and why he believes a massive shift is needed to help unlock potential and expand educational access for the future. It’s the architecture of schooling that needs an overhaul, he says, pointing to the idea that hours spent in class are currently equated to “learning.” Diego asks educators to examine things that aren’t being measured in credit hours: leadership and exploration outside of school hours and the development of skills, habits, and dispositions that allow real learning to take place.

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In this special episode of the Higher Ed Geek Podcast, recorded on site at the 2025 SXSW EDU, Host Dustin Ramsdell speaks with Diego Arambula, vice president for Educational Transformation at the Carnegie Foundation.

Diego discusses how higher education must evolve to remain a powerful engine for economic opportunity — especially for students who are furthest from it. He unpacks the need to rethink degree structures, the role of digital transformation, and how institutions can better prepare students for career success. Tune in to hear how the Carnegie Foundation is leading efforts to reshape college classifications and workforce connections for the next generation of learners.

Timothy Knowles, president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education, participated in a dynamic fireside chat at the 2025 ASU+GSV Summit, where they discussed a new, sector-wide approach to measuring postsecondary impact. For more than 50 years, the Carnegie Classifications of Higher Education had served as the industry standard for U.S. colleges and universities. The two organizations had joined forces to capture, publish, and leverage new measures of institutional impact at broad scale.

This session at SXSW EDU 2025, presented by the Walton Family Foundation, brought together Jamie Jutila, Sarah Navarro, Babak Mostaghimi, and Brooke Stafford-Brizard to discuss the future of high school education.

As the 21st century continued to reshape the world, the conversation emphasized the urgent need for high schools to evolve. Panelists explored how collaborations between educators and edtech innovators, the development of networks of innovative schools, and the expansion of competency-based instruction were transforming the student experience. The session highlighted the countless possibilities for a more relevant and engaging high school education and showcased the efforts of changemakers leading this transformation.

Attendees gained insights into how changemakers were driving targeted efforts to rethink traditional education models, ensuring that high school students—regardless of background—were better prepared for success in college, career, and beyond.

Timothy Knowles (President, Carnegie Foundation) and Amit Sevak (CEO, ETS) explore designing, piloting, and distributing a new suite of tools that measure the affective, behavioral, and cognitive skills necessary for success in the 21st century.

Featuring Timothy Knowles (President, Carnegie Foundation), Brandi Hinnant-Crawford (Clemson University), Tinkhani White (Director, Systems Transformation, Carnegie), and Adelric McCain (Sr. Director Programs, UChicago Network for College Success)

American Student Assistance (ASA), the Education Impact Fund, Axim Collaborative, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. These foundations were created to continue inspiring innovation and access at the forefront of the education revolution. How do they stay at the top of their game for the students they serve?

Hear from Jean Eddy (President & CEO of the American Student Assistance), Joseph Watt (VP & Managing Director, ECMC Group Education Impact Fund, ECMC Group), Stephanie Khurana (CEO of Axim Collaborative). Take a front row seat at this panel from the 2023 GSV Leaders Summit moderated by Val Brown (Director, Future of Learning, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching).

Leaders Summit is a gathering of leaders across the “Pre-K to Gray” learning and skills landscape. In 2023, education innovators met in Nashville, Tennessee for striking conversations about the future of digital learning and workforce skills in a dynamic, rapidly changing global landscape.

In April 2023, the Carnegie Foundation President, Dr. Timothy Knowles, detailed a visionary blueprint for the future of assessment at the Modernizing our Education System Summit, hosted by the Council of Chief State School Officers. 

In his remarks, Dr. Timothy Knowles encouraged state education leaders to consider strategies that move us beyond rote memorization and timed-based learning, placing focus on school ecosystems that motivate students to develop vital skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making. These transformative changes would also embrace and support the autonomy and varied life experiences of our young learners.

The foundations of Dr. Knowles’s remarks are anchored in our dynamic partnership with the Educational Testing Service (ETS). Together, we are working to create a comprehensive, scalable array of assessment and analytical tools that capture a wide spectrum of skills necessary for our nation’s students to succeed in K-12, postsecondary, and their future careers.

Shirley M. Collado, Ph.D. (President and CEO, College Track; Carnegie Postsecondary Commission Chair) in conversation with Timothy Knowles (President, Carnegie Foundation)