What Real Industry-Integrated Education Looks Like

The disconnect between higher education and the workforce is widely acknowledged but rarely addressed at the institutional level. Most universities respond by adding internships, expanding career services, or launching new programs. Few are built on the premise that half of what students need to learn cannot be taught in a classroom.In this episode of Radical Cooperation, Dr. Michael Horowitz speaks with Dr. Robert K. McMahan, President of Kettering University, about what it looks like when a university makes industry integration central to its identity. Drawing on Dr. McMahan's 15 years leading Kettering and the institution's century-long cooperative education model, the conversation explores how universities can build real professional experience into every student's path, why long-tenured presidencies make structural change possible, and what colleges owe the communities they sit in.Rather than defending the traditional academic model, this episode focuses on what becomes possible when universities are willing to reinvent themselves. The conversation also looks at higher education's resistance to change, the rapid disappearance of entry-level roles in an AI-driven economy, and what genuine collaboration between universities, industry, and community looks like in practice.In this episode:Why long-term presidencies make meaningful institutional change possibleHow Kettering's cooperative education model integrates classroom learning with professional experienceWhat universities can do to support the cities and communities around themWhy higher education often treats change as a threat rather than a needHow AI is reshaping entry-level roles and what it means for higher ed