Opening Keynote 

Jeff Selingo

Jeff Selingo has written about colleges and universities for more than 25 years and is a New York Times bestselling author of four books. His latest, Dream School: Finding the College That’s Right for You (September 2025), draws on more than two years of research and a survey of some 3,000 parents to give families permission to think more broadly about what signals a “good” college and then the tools to discover their dream school. He is also the author of Who Gets In & Why: A Year Inside College Admissions, named one of the New York Times’s 100 Notable Books of the Year in 2020.

A regular contributor to The Atlantic, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal, Jeff is a special advisor to the president and professor of practice at Arizona State University. He writes the biweekly newsletter Next and co-hosts the podcast Future U. He lives near Washington, D.C., with his family.

In this keynote, Jeff will share insights from more than 25 years of higher education reporting, advising presidents and boards, and helping families and educators understand the college admissions landscape.