John Pryor
Misguided beliefs about where to go to college are causing an epidemic of anxiety among parents and students, and that doesn’t need to be the case. Through engaging and informative keynotes, audiences will walk away with a better awareness of the facts and a more healthy perspective on the college choice process.
As a higher education researcher for over 30 years, John Pryor has conducted some of this research himself, and has firsthand knowledge of what researchers know that most people do not.
John systematically goes through some of the biggest misconceptions people have about choosing a college that cause such stress and shows audiences what the research tells us actually happens, as opposed to what the media and others portray.
John makes this crucial information accessible and relevant so that audiences can make better and more confident choices about college with less anxiety. He will show you that it’s not where you go, but what you do in college that points towards a great job and a great life.
About John
John Pryor is a researcher, speaker, and writer with over 30 years of experience using research findings to help understand and improve the educational experience. He is passionate about using his knowledge about the college experience to help people make better choices and get better results.
John speaks frequently on what really matters in choosing your college. He has published many articles, monographs, white papers, and opinion pieces, including the Journal of College Student Development and The Chronicle of Higher Education. His TEDxUCLA talk (“How to Make College Better, And Why We Need To”) identifies the lack of connection between the college classroom and life after graduation. His work has been featured in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and other news organizations.
Before founding his own research consulting business, Pryor Education Insights, John was a Senior Research Scientist with Gallup, as lead researcher on the Gallup-Purdue Index. That groundbreaking study examined the long-term impact of college through the lens of wellbeing and workplace engagement. For eight years prior to that John was the director of the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP), the largest study of higher education in the country and the managing director of the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA, where CIRP is housed. Before CIRP, John was the director of Student Affairs Planning, Evaluation, and Research at Dartmouth College. He lives in Los Angeles and is the proud father of two successful college graduates.
Signature Keynotes
Exposing Myths and Reducing Stress About College Choice:
What the Research Tells Us About Where to Go and What to Do
Applying to college and choosing where to go are major sources of stress for parents and students for years leading up to the college acceptance notification. What if it did not need to be that way? John Pryor uses his decades of experience conducting research on higher education at the highest levels to bust stress causing myths about college and telling you what really matters. Set yourself up for success in choosing your college and confidently knowing what to do when you are on campus.
The Big Six:
The Most Important Things to Do in College for A Great Job And A Great Life
Make the most out of your college experience by knowing what to do to set yourself up for success. Research by top experts in the field, John Pryor and others, tells you the key 6 things to do in college that are connected to wellbeing and career engagement later in life.
Sense of Belonging on Campus:
Setting Your Students Up for Success
Recent research shows that a sense of belonging in school has a profound impact of academic success and wellbeing. John looks at his research and those of others that examines what contributes to a student's sense of belonging and how schools can foster this.
“…one of the country’s leading educational researchers, John Pryor. He talks about his research and others that have found that where a child goes to college matters so much less than we think, and what actually matters, what actually leads to the career success and wellbeing we want for them is how they go to college.”
Jennifer Breheny Wallace, author of the bestselling book “Never Enough”
Connect with John
Through engaging and informative keynotes John Pryor gives you the most important things you need to know about college to make the best decisions for your future.
818.835.1202