Should You Go To Grad School? A Conversation About Higher Education

Join America’s Future and Jenna Robinson of the James G. Martin Center for a conversation about the future of higher education.

According to a recent report by the Council of Graduate Schools, the number of students enrolling in graduate school is steadily declining. While graduate school enrollment increased by 6% between 2010 and 2020, it fell in 2022, dropping by 4.7% between fall 2021 and fall 2022.

Since this comes as the average student loan debt per borrower is around $38,375, with 42.7 million Americans holding federal student loan debt, it begs the question: should you go to grad school?

Join Chris West of America’s Future and Jenna Robinson of the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal for a virtual discussion about the future of higher education. The first 40 people who register will receive a Starbucks gift card on us to enjoy during the event, so be sure to reserve your spot on Eventbrite! Questions? Email Chloe at chloe@americasfuture.org.

About Chris West: 

Chris is a native North Carolinian dedicated to advancing freedom in his home state through his role as Development Officer at the John Locke Foundation and as a leader with AF. As an ordained Baptist minister, he often works at the intersection of religion and public life. Chris is a graduate of Campbell University, Duke Divinity School, the Wake Forest program in faith-based nonprofit leadership, and the ABCD Institute at DePaul University. He has participated in fellowships with SPN, the EA Morris program at Locke, The James G Martin Center, the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, and AF (Lead). Chris lives in Raleigh with his wife, Melissa; their son, Parker; and their dog, Taxi.

About Jenna Robinson:

Jenna Robinson is president of the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal. She joined the Martin Center in January 2007 as campus outreach coordinator and later became the center’s director of outreach. She was previously the E.A. Morris Fellowship assistant at the John Locke Foundation, where she had worked since 2001.

Robinson serves on the board of the Alumni Free Speech Alliance, the UNC Alumni Free Speech Alliance, the steering committee of the Bastiat Society of Raleigh, and as a member of the Board of Visitors at UNC-Chapel Hill. She has previously served as a member of the North Carolina Longitudinal Data System Board, the North Carolina Advisory Committee for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and the Classical Liberals in the Carolinas.

Robinson earned her bachelor’s degree from NC State University. She received her M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Robinson is also a graduate of the Koch Associate Program. She has taught courses in American politics at UNC-Chapel Hill, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Wake Technical Community College. Robinson’s work has appeared in Investor’s Business Daily, Roll Call, Forbes, American Thinker, Human Events, Carolina Journal, and the Raleigh News & Observer. She lives in Cary, NC, with her husband and two sons.