June 2, 2026

Rethinking College, Careers, and the Trades with Jacob Imam

What if students didn't need to choose between a trade and a four year degree? How can today's students ensure their education leads to a stable career? What is the mission behind the College of St. Joseph the Worker? President and founder of the College of St. Joseph the Worker Dr. Jacob Imam answers all these questions and more!

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About the episode

In this episode, Dr. Jacob Imam, President and founder of the College of St. Joseph the Worker, shares the story behind one of higher education’s most unconventional institutions, a rigorous honors-level liberal arts college that also trains students in the skilled trades. Jacob explains his philosophy around the “great divorce between the head and the hands,” making the case that intellectual and manual work are not opposites but deeply complementary, and that reconnecting the two produces better thinkers and more capable people. He also breaks down how the college’s apprenticeship model allows students to earn while they train, fully offsetting tuition costs so graduates leave with both a bachelor’s degree and zero debt.

Jacob then walks through the practical questions students and families should be asking as they weigh their options in higher education, including whether college is even the right path, and how to honestly assess return on investment. He shares why the skilled trades are consistently underestimated as an intellectual and financial opportunity, how AI tailwinds are making both hands-on skills and deep thinking more valuable than ever, and what advice he has for students already in college who want to start reconnecting with practical, real-world skills.

Mentioned in this episode

Host

Will Geiger

Will Geiger is the co-founder of Scholarships360 and has a decade of experience in college admissions and financial aid. He is a former Senior Assistant Director of Admissions at Kenyon College where he personally reviewed 10,000 admissions applications and essays. Will also managed the Kenyon College merit scholarship program and served on the financial aid appeals committee. He has also worked as an Associate Director of College Counseling at a high school in New Haven, Connecticut.Will earned his master’s in education from the University of Pennsylvania and received his undergraduate degree in history from Wake Forest University.

Guest

Dr. Jacob Imam

Jacob Imam was born into a Muslim home, and converted to Catholicism under the guidance of his godfather, Walter Hooper (C. S. Lewis’s personal secretary). He graduated from the University of Oxford as a Marshall scholar with his masters and doctorate, writing his dissertation on theology and economics. As a popular speaker and writer on politics and economics, he has appeared on Pints with Aquinas, Fox News, and other media outlets. He and his wife, Alice, have four sons.