2025-09-30—Q&A webinar: Great Admissions Redesign—Eligibility & Requirements

The announcement today of Humanity AI marks one of the most ambitious philanthropic responses yet to the disruptive rise of artificial intelligence. Backed by an initial $500 million in commitments, this five-year collaborative seeks nothing less than to rebalance the trajectory of artificial intelligence development, shifting power toward the public good.

U.S. employers and colleges are contending with more young people who are behind academically. Some are trying to make up where schools have failed.

Colleges and universities are doing a better job lately explaining the value of their degrees, and increasingly they're getting important help in making that case.

Critics of higher education have a point: Average inflation-adjusted tuition has gone down, but remains too high. Degrees pay off, but too many grads struggle finding good jobs.

Americans eager to gain new skills and energize their careers quickly and inexpensively are turning to increasingly popular short-term workforce programs.

Twelve states will identify and support training policies that deliver real economic value for taxpayers and individuals.

With growing skepticism and doubt about the value of a traditional college degree, many Americans are opting for short-term credentials that offer a quicker route to economic opportunity. But with more than a million certificate programs out there, how can students (or employers, for that matter) know which ones actually lead to better jobs and bigger paychecks?

We often hear that a bachelor’s degree pays off, literally, long-term, but is that always true? And how do short-term credentials like certificates and training badges really compare?

Once a global leader in higher education, the United States now finds itself spending more than nearly all of its peer nations while delivering outcomes that fall increasingly short of expectations.

Few aspects of modern life are as closely scrutinized as higher education, and no wonder: Though most Americans believe that a college degree leads to better jobs, many also think it costs too much and may not be worth the time and money.

From campus to work: Why Lumina is investing in career-connected High-Impact Practices

Lumina Foundation, CollegeAPP, and StrategyForward Advisors have joined to launch the Rural Community College Adult Learner Engagement initiative, supporting a cohort of rural colleges in strengthening their outreach to attract and enroll adults.

Artificial intelligence, the fastest-growing force of change in society today, has captured the imagination and concern of leaders in fields such as education, economics, defense—and even religion.

Hear insights from a nationwide movement. The live podcast includes real stories from the field illuminating how change happens—and where it’s heading.

Lumina Foundation, CollegeAPP, and StrategyForward Advisors have joined to launch the Rural Community College Adult Learner Engagement initiative, supporting a cohort of rural colleges in strengthening their outreach to attract and enroll adults.

Colleges eager to help adult learners—especially Black, Hispanic and Latino, and Native American adults who have historically been left behind—know this goal requires more than surface-level tweaks. It demands deep, sustained, and mission-driven institutional change.

Forty-three million Americans have started college but left without earning a credential. That group, known as “some college, no credential,” or SCNC, is larger than the population of California. And it continues to grow.

Last month, during Mental Health Awareness Month, posters went up on campuses across the country, and social media hashtags trended. Now we’re in June, and the conversation begins to fade—while students' struggles do not. 

I have served at the U.S. Department of Education twice—once as a career civil servant and later as deputy undersecretary and acting assistant secretary. I took immense pride in serving students with dignity and purpose in both roles. I continue to be inspired by the unwavering dedication of the department’s career employees—public servants who have committed their lives to advancing educational opportunity in every corner of this country.

Seventeen years ago, Lumina Foundation set an ambitious goal: By 2025, 60 percent of working-age adults in the United States would have a degree, certificate, or industry-recognized certification. At the time, only 38 percent had one. Today, that number has risen to 55 percent, thanks to the dedication of students, educators, and policymakers who believe in the power of education and training beyond high school.

Four in five first-generation student participants from the “Is College Worth It?” report believe their degree will help them achieve financial goals and credit their college experience with expanding career opportunities.

But our collective efforts must keep evolving until learning after high school prepares graduates to thrive economically.

Diversity and equity initiatives are increasingly under attack in statehouses, schools, and corporations across the country. But amid this rising rhetoric, a critical misunderstanding threatens our nation’s future—one that could erode our global leadership and economic prosperity.

States across the country have proposed or enacted legislation that hampers or eliminates diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts on college campuses. These efforts range from removing diversity statements from job posting to outright elimination of student support services. Erin Gretzinger and Maggie Hicks from the Chronicle of Higher Education gives us a national overview and Veronica Selzler from Hattaway Communications talks about a new toolkit designed to help bridge the communications gap.

This could be a challenging year for the 4 million or so people just graduating from college: While the National Association of Colleges and Employers reports that most employers say they will maintain or increase hiring, sizeable job cuts elsewhere mean an overall decrease in hiring.

Waterloo, Iowa, got an urgent wake-up call in 2018. Despite being one of Iowa’s most diverse towns with a major manufacturing hub, a financial commentary site listed it as the worst city to be a Black American.

And my equity journey continues. Four years ago, I wrote a column about sending my son off to college and my fears for him as a young Black man finding his way as a student and citizen. Today, I’m the proud mom of a college graduate. Though the world shut down during my son’s freshman year, and he spent […]

If you want progress, work for justice. That’s a paraphrase of Pope Paul VI from 1972 amid the Vietnam War. Then, the sentiment was about peace. More than 50 years later, we’re still talking about justice—but now in the context of economic mobility and the promise of American progress.