Solving College: Elton University—the 1-on-1 Tutoring University | S03 E06

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Show links:

• Elton University
• Sold a Story (Podcast Mini-Series)
  
  

College is supposed to be a launchpad. Too often it’s a slow, expensive maze that teaches the wrong things in the wrong order, then calls it “rigor.” We talk with Scott, the founder of Elton University, about a different design: remote, one-on-one, and built around the question most schools never ask plainly enough: what do you want to learn?

We get concrete about how the model works. Instead of measuring learning by seat time and 15-week semesters, Elton uses engagement hours that count real effort: coaching sessions, reading, projects, practice, and assessment. Scott explains how that still maps to familiar outcomes like an MBA, while letting two students pursue very different goals without pretending they learned the same thing on the same schedule. We also explore why modern universities no longer “own” knowledge, and why guidance plus credible assessment may be the most valuable services a school can provide.

From there we take a hard turn into evidence-based education and AI curriculum. If medicine needs proof before it reaches patients, why do schools roll out sweeping new programs on kids with little validation? The conversation hits the reading wars, what research says about phonics, and how education fads take hold. We also cover ethics boundaries, accreditation realities, and a PhD-by-publication path designed to help working adults earn citations and a stronger research portfolio without moving or quitting their jobs.

If you care about higher education reform, personalized learning, online degrees, and practical alternatives to the status quo, this one is for you. Subscribe, share with a friend who’s fed up with college, and leave a review with the one change you’d make to how people learn.

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Comments? Feedback? Questions? Solutions? Message us! We will do a mailbag episode.

Email: solutionsfromthemultiverse@gmail.com
Adam: @ajbraus - braus@hey.com
Scot: @scotmaupin

adambraus.com (Link to Adam's projects and books)
The Perfect Show (Scot's solo podcast)

Thanks to Jonah Burns for the SFM music.