Dr. Nicholas D. Hartlep —Examining Student Loan Debt as a Wicked Problem
Our guest, Nicholas D. Hartlep, Ph.D., holds the Robert Charles Billings Endowed Chair in Education at Berea College wherehe has Chaired the Education Studies Department since 2019. He is currently enjoying a research sabbatical year (2025–2026).
A scholar of educational foundations and critical pedagogy, Dr. Hartlep’s research critically interrogates the modelminority stereotype, urban teacher education, racial battle fatigue in higher education, the political economy of student debt, and the role of neoliberalism in shaping P–20 educational policy and practice. His scholarship is both prolific and widely recognized: he is the author or editor of 26 books, severalof which have received Outstanding Book Awards from the Society of Professors of Education (SPE). Dr. Hartlep currently serves as President of the Kentucky Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (KACTE) and holds national leadership roles on the Executive Boards of the American Association ofColleges for Teacher Education’s (AACTE) Advisory Council of State Representatives (ACSR) and the Diversified Teacher Workforce (DTW) Topical Action Group (TAG).
Dr. Hartlep has also been selected for several prestigious academic leadership programs, including the AACTELeadership Academy, and the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) New Leadership Academy (NLA), which was held in 2025 at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. In September of 2025 Dr. Hartlep will beginhis EPFP Fellowship in the Education Policy Fellowship Program for Community Schools Leaders coordinated by the Institutefor Educational Leadership (IEL).
His scholarship is informed by his lived experience as a Korean transracial adoptee and a deep commitment to equity, justice, and transformative educational leadership. During his researchsabbatical Dr. Hartlep is currently completing What Can Be Learned from Work Colleges? An Education That Works, under contract with SUNY Press.
Your Host: Jacob Easley II, PhD, PMP
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Resources:
Student Loan Debt as a Wicked Problem (Book)
Greeting: Curtis Valentine
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