Top Higher Education News for Friday
Lumina

Lumina Foundation is committed to increasing the proportion of Americans with high-quality degrees, certificates and other credentials to 60 percent by 2025.

December 13, 2024

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Customized GPT Assists Students With Coursework, Learning

Ashley Mowreader, Voices of Student Success

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Over the past two years, generative AI has blazed its way onto college campuses, first in students’ hands and increasingly in the hands of administrators and instructors to improve campus operations and enrollment management, as well as teaching and learning.

 

The University of Texas at Austin is in the initial stages of launching a custom GPT model, UT Sage, which will serve as a tutor of sorts for students who need help related to a specific course. In this interview, UT Austin's Julie Schell shares the inspiration behind the tool, her work with AI in the classroom, and what's involved in teaching the ethics of AI use.

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Florida Bill Would Roll Back In-State Tuition for Undocumented Students

Laura Spitalniak, Higher Ed Dive

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Since 2014, Florida has allowed undocumented students to pay in-state tuition rates across its public colleges if they attended their last three years of high school in the state and enroll in higher education within two years of graduation. That could change with the introduction of bill this week to repeal in-state tuition benefits for undocumented students.

 

The evolution of the policy illustrates the Republican Party’s intensifying scrutiny of immigration.

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What to Know About an Effort to Make College in Illinois More Affordable

Lisa Kurian Philip, WBEZ

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College affordability is an issue throughout America, but the problem is especially severe in Illinois, where public colleges have become particularly unaffordable. That’s shut out a lot of students, including those who would most benefit from the social mobility that comes with a degree.

 

Now, some Illinois legislators and advocates are proposing groundbreaking legislation to try and address the challenge.

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Soaring Application Numbers Suggest Historically Black Colleges Are Still in Vogue

Declan Bradley, The Chronicle of Higher Education

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Historically Black Colleges and Universities saw a nearly 30-percent jump in first-year applicants during the 2022-23 admissions cycle, according to new federal data—a sign that their recent renaissance is continuing.

 

The 64 HBCUs that had reported data as of this month saw a collective 543,066 applications for the class of 2027—the largest applicant pool in at least a decade. The growth at HBCUs significantly outpaces other higher education institutions: Overall, college applications are up just 6 percent.

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Trump Deportation Threats Weigh on Groups Offering FAFSA Help

Ariel Gilreath, The Hechinger Report

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A big part of Elizabeth House’s job is encouraging students to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. But for students who have family members without the proper immigration documents, filling out the form has long been seen as a risky way to draw attention to their family’s status. House, however, urges students to take that step and fill out the FAFSA anyway.

 

This fall, some college advising groups are reluctantly taking a different stance.

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U.S. Labor Department Drops Apprenticeship System Update

Elyse Ashburn, Work Shift

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The U.S. Department of Labor has withdrawn an 800-page proposal to update the registered apprenticeship system that was unlikely to stand in the new administration.

 

The rule changes aimed to increase worker protections and quality by requiring better outcomes data, streamlining aspects of the process for creating apprenticeships, and making them more compatible with K-12 and college education. The rules would have been the first regulatory update to the system since 2008 and proposed many changes experts have wanted for years.

HUMAN WORK AND LEARNING

The AI-Generated Textbook That’s Making Academics Nervous

Kathryn Palmer, Inside Higher Ed

80 Colleges Could Close by 2029, Even as Elite Ivy League Schools Thrive

Jennifer Mattson, Fast Company

A Virtuous Cycle of Career Education for Young People

Bruno V. Manno, Forbes

Commentary: Higher Education Faces Its Sputnik Moment

Chris Shank, Maryland Matters

Blog: Three Questions on ‘Learning About Learning: Students’ Insights From a Pandemic Year’

Joshua Kim, Maggie Debelius, and Edward J. Maloney, Learning Innovation

RACIAL JUSTICE AND EQUITY

Texas Beats Nation on Teacher Diversity, But Research Shows Work Is Needed to Reflect Students

Nadya Faulx, KERA

Black and Immigrant: Navigating America’s Polarized Landscape Through HBCUs

Jody Dixon, Diverse Issues in Higher Education

Air Force Academy Sued Over Race-Conscious Admissions

Susan Svrluga, The Washington Post

Commentary: AI in Education: Opportunities, Challenges, and the Human Connection

Instructional Technology Council, Community College Daily

COLLEGE ENROLLMENTS

Teetering on the Edge: The Enrollment Cliff Nears as Higher Education Hangs in the Balance

Chris Mullin, Lumina Foundation

Del Mar Sets High Dual Enrollment Goal; How Will They Achieve It?

Makaylah Chavez, KRIS 6 News (Texas)

A Dive Into Community College Enrollment

Chris Jones, WFAE

Admission Apps Save Students Multiple Applications and Fees, 'Widen the Net' for Colleges

Valerie Myers, Erie Times-News

AFFORDABILITY

Free Money Available for Oklahoman Students’ Higher Education

Cameron Sibert, KOCO

UWSP Streamlines Help for Students Who Need Emergency Aid

Wausau Pilot & Review (Wisconsin)

Haywood Community College to Offer Free Tuition for Spring 2025

Rex Hodge and Kelly Doty, WLOS

MS Legislators Discuss Expanding Tuition Assistance to Grow Better Educated Workforce

Mary Boyte, Mississippi Clarion Ledger

UM Expands Go Blue Free Tuition Program With Big Boost in Income Cutoff

Kim Kozlowski, The Detroit News

FEDERAL POLICY

Biden Signs FAFSA Deadline Act Into Law, Making October 1 the Official FAFSA Launch Date

Maria Carrasco, National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

Work-Based Learning: One Way Trump May Disrupt the System—for the Better

Alcino Donadel, University Business

Project 2025 Would Deny Federal Loans Over In-State Tuition for Undocumented Migrants, Like in Arizona

Mia Osmonbekov, Cronkite News

Video: Foxx Talks Student Loan Bailouts, Abolishing Education Department

Committee on Education & the Workforce

luminafoundation.org
Daily Lumina News is edited by Patricia Brennan.

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