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.
Historically Black Colleges and Universities are finding themselves in a precarious position as federal agencies slash grants and contracts they associate with diversity, equity, and inclusion to comply with President Trump’s anti-DEI directives. Some have lost federal funds in Trump’s first 100 days, while others are trimming already lean budgets and launching fundraising campaigns to prepare for the worst.
HBCU leaders hope the executive order that Trump recently signed to “promote excellence and innovation” at HBCUs and re-establish a White House initiative supporting them signals better times ahead for the institutions. Many can ill afford a financial hit.
The Trump administration’s swift initial rollout of orders seeking more control over universities left schools thunderstruck. Fearing retribution from a president known to retaliate against his enemies, most leaders in higher education responded in February with silence.
But after weeks of witnessing the administration freeze billions in federal funding, demand changes to policies, and begin investigations, a broad coalition of university leaders publicly opposing those moves is taking root.
Community colleges play a critical role in addressing California’s persistent demand for healthcare workers, preparing students to become the state’s next generation of nurses, medical assistants, and physical therapy aides.
But in the Los Angeles Community College District, where more than half of all students report incomes near or below the poverty line, many people struggle to complete their degrees while also holding down jobs to pay rent, buy groceries, and cover child-care costs. A pilot program at the L.A. district—the state's largest, with nine colleges and 194,000 students—aims to address these seemingly intractable challenges with a targeted remedy: $1,000 a month in guaranteed income.
This past week, the University of Florida was on the brink of hiring a new dean of its College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Then officials suddenly called off the search under pressure from the administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis, which alleged that the candidates were not in alignment with the state’s policies opposing diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.
As Florida’s Republican governor, DeSantis has championed anti-DEI legislation, and Florida was among the first states to outlaw DEI offices at universities. DeSantis has also pushed for political allies to fill university leadership roles.
Recently, community colleges have taken the lead in developing a skilled workforce for electric car companies and their suppliers. Pima Community College in Arizona, Richland Community College in Illinois, Wake Technical Community College in North Carolina, and Rio Hondo College in California are among the institutions that have started such programs.
But jobs in the electric vehicle industry are less certain now as Trump pauses federal funding to build electric vehicle chargers, orders thousands of stations disconnected at government sites, and tries to freeze spending on clean energy projects.
The U.S. Department of Education appears to have removed a key new feature of the StudentAid.gov website that has allowed borrowers to track their student loan forgiveness progress. The removal comes just days after advocacy organizations issued urgent warnings to borrowers to screenshot their data.
In January, the Biden administration published the long-awaited IDR payment tracker for borrowers in income-driven repayment plans. Until then, borrowers had no easy way to determine where they stood on their IDR term. Now, the tracker's apparent removal leaves borrowers with fewer tools to determine their options, as the system for repaying federal student loans remains in turmoil.
