Lumina Foundation is working to increase the share of adults in the U.S. labor force with college degrees or other credentials of value leading to economic prosperity.
There is no question that artificial intelligence will change how students learn, live, and work. But it's worth remembering that AI is a tool, not a human. Teaching and learning, after all, are creative processes. While AI can flag a student who is struggling, it’s a trusted professor or advisor who can best support them and help navigate issues.
The challenge now is to ensure that the technology enhances learning without sacrificing the community, mentorship, and meaning that have always made higher education worthwhile, writes Lumina Foundation's Jamie Merisotis in his latest column for Forbes.
What began as a free college program in 2022 to support high school classes affected by the COVID-19 pandemic will now be a permanent resource to help students in Maine go to college. Last week, much to the relief of advocates, college leaders, and students, Maine lawmakers passed a supplemental budget permanently funding the state’s free community college program, albeit with some tweaks.
David Daigler, president of the Maine Community College System, says the program’s future felt uncertain to him until the very end. But that anxiety has since been replaced with a “sense of jubilation” on campuses and among high school students who now know for certain they can take advantage of the program.
Founded in 1965 as a campus determined to "radically reimagine liberal arts education," Hampshire College in Amherst will permanently close its doors at the end of this year. The small liberal arts college started facing significant financial headwinds seven years ago.
News of Hampshire's closure comes during a precarious financial time for several other small schools, including Anna Maria College, a small Catholic institution in central Massachusetts. Other recent closures in New England include Bay State College in Boston's Back Bay three years ago and Pine Manor College's absorption into Boston College in 2020.
As of August 2025, an estimated 11.87 million Americans ages 65 and older were employed across a range of industries—more than double the number from 30 years ago. Workers in this age bracket are now the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. labor force, a demographic shift reshaping how employers, policymakers, and educators think about workforce development, lifelong learning, and what it means to retire in America.
But the most dramatic recent change is not just how many older Americans are working, but also what kind of work they are pursuing. Increasingly, workers in their 60s and 70s are not simply holding on to the jobs they have always had. They are starting over. And for many, community colleges provide them with the pathways to do it.
Over the last 15 years, colleges have shifted from a focus on access to one of student success—primarily on credential completion. Now, colleges need to focus on a different success metric: post-completion success.
Experts emphasize that strengthening pathways to post-completion success requires strong partnerships with employers and universities, opportunities for experiential learning for students, reimagining the onboarding process so students can explore and plan a program, and rethinking high school dual enrollment as a debt-free on-ramp to career-connected pathways.
Colleges are increasingly looking to recruit adult learners as a means of bolstering enrollment amid an anticipated decline in traditional-aged students. In turn, higher education officials are grappling with how to best serve students who have likely not been in a formal educational environment in years.
For some, the answer is artificial intelligence. This week, leaders from two massive colleges that have long specialized in nontraditional students—Southern New Hampshire University and the University of Phoenix—spoke at the annual ASU+GSV Summit and shared insights from their experiences implementing AI.
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