Most colleges say they do experiential learning. Alex Hernandez can tell you exactly what separates the ones that mean it.

Alex is president of Champlain College, a small career-focused school in Burlington, Vermont, where students start taking classes in their major on day one — not junior year. The model is built on a simple premise: experience is part of the education, not a bonus you might get around to.

Alex Hernandez has spent his career thinking about how education creates opportunity. His father was a farm worker; his first job was on Wall Street. For 20-plus years, he's been working on what it takes to make that kind of leap accessible to more students. He came to Champlain because it was doing that — deliberately, not by accident.

What we cover:

• Champlain's upside-down curriculum — why students start their major on day one, and what that makes possible for internships and career exploration in year one
• How the curriculum works for students who don't know what they want yet, including a Lego-block model that lets students combine and remix across majors
• What a campus-based internship actually looks like — and why it's a meaningful bridge experience
• The recent curriculum redesign: Flex 30 credits, interdisciplinary studios, and co-ops that let students earn and learn without delaying graduation
• What families should actually ask when a college claims to do experiential learning — and which statistics to push on
• Why work-integrated learning is harder to build than it sounds, and what it takes to do it in a way that sticks

What Parents Should Ask:

• Does experiential learning happen at the core of the program, or at the fringes?
• What percentage of your graduating class do you actually survey for employment outcomes?
• What is the school doing to help students access internships — or are students on their own to find them?

Connect with Alex

Champlain College website: https://www.champlain.edu/

Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhernandez/

Connect with Ringae

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