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

December 16, 2024

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The Year in Closures and Mergers

Josh Moody, Inside Higher Ed

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As 2024 draws to a close, it also marks the end of an era for some institutions.

 

Altogether, at least 16 nonprofit colleges and universities announced closures this year. Most were small, private, tuition-dependent schools that lacked robust endowments. While many approached the closure process in an orderly manner, winding down operations and teaching out academic programs, others abruptly shuttered, leaving students unprepared.

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Should Colleges Give Credit for Learning Outside the Classroom?

Zaidee Stavely, Education Beat

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Alice Keeney had to study for months in the Navy to learn how to operate nuclear reactors that power submarines and aircraft carriers. But when she tried to transfer her classes over to Cal Poly Pomona, she couldn't receive credit for her learning experiences and knowledge.

 

Why is credit for learning outside the classroom important? And how did Keeney—and her allies—eventually change how California's colleges and universities evaluate transcripts?

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Trump Will Affect Colleges’ Finances. Just How Could Surprise You.

Lee Gardner, The Chronicle of Higher Education

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Donald Trump is still weeks away from taking the oath of office as president of the United States, but college leaders are already bracing for the potential financial impacts of his second term on their institutions.

 

What can colleges expect this time around? Based on Trump’s campaign rhetoric and past legislative proposals popular with Republican lawmakers, the most obvious possibilities include fallout from looming tax reform, adjustments to the Pell Grant, and changes, big or small, to the U.S. Department of Education, including its possible demolition. But many other policy decisions could have unexpected or unpredictable effects on college finances.

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A New Boston Globe Podcast Digs Into 'Culture Wars' at Harvard

Cristela Guerra and Stephanie Brown, WBUR

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This past year, as protests surged on college campuses, authorities scrutinized university presidents. Congress summoned some college leaders to account for their statements and actions. Harvard University's first Black president, Claudine Gay, was among them. She did not withstand the scrutiny.

 

Ilya Maritz, a reporter and host of a new podcast series from the Boston Globe, explores Gay’s short, troubled tenure as president and universities' role in a democracy.

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Texas Professors Self-Censor for Fear of Retaliation, Survey Found

Kate McGee, The Texas Tribune

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University professors across the political spectrum in Texas are preemptively self-censoring themselves for fear of damaging their reputations or losing their jobs, according to a new survey from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, or FIRE.

 

More than 6,200 professors from across the country responded to the survey—one of the largest surveys of its kind, according to FIRE—on the climate of free speech and academic freedom on their campuses.

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Using AI to Streamline College Transfers

Matthew Dembicki, Community College Daily

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The process of transferring from two-year to four-year institutions can be daunting for community college students, particularly for first-generation students of color.

 

A new national initiative that includes the American Association of Community Colleges aims to make college transfers easier and less stressful, using artificial intelligence to streamline the process and provide more certainty for students.

HUMAN WORK AND LEARNING

2024: The Year in Higher Ed

The Chronicle of Higher Education

College Leaders Share Perspectives on Shortened Terms

Ashley Mowreader, Inside Higher Ed

A Careers Initiative Aims to Give Underserved Communities in South Florida Jobs in the Financial Sector

Laura Aka, WorkingNation

Americans Are Skeptical About AI Use in Higher Education

Olivia Sawyer, New America

Blog: Building Evidence to Help Community College Students Obtain and Advance in Health Care Careers

Amanda Briggs, Madeleine Sirois, and Stephanie Petrov, Urban Institute

Blog: Understanding the Humanities’ Political Turn

Steven Mintz, Higher Ed Gamma

RACIAL JUSTICE AND EQUITY

DEI Bans Flourished in 2024. Politicians Aren’t Finished.

Johanna Alonso, Inside Higher Ed

The Ongoing, Unnecessary Obstacles HBCUs Must Confront

Jabari Simama, Governing Magazine

Iowa Community Colleges Say Few Changes Needed to Meet DEI Recommendations

Brooklyn Draisey, Iowa Capital Dispatch

Governor Names Connecticut's First Chief Equity and Opportunity Officer

Chris Polansky, Connecticut Public Radio

Boise State: Proposed State Crackdown Drove Student Center Closures

Kevin Richert, Idaho Education News

Opinion: If You Think You’re Too Small to Make a Difference, You Haven’t Spent the Night With a Mosquito

Dean Kizart, Diverse Issues in Higher Education

PRISON EDUCATION

Protecting In-State Tuition for Imprisoned Floridians Revisited After DeSantis Veto

Jay Waagmeester, The Phoenix Flyer

North Dakota Prison System Gets Nearly $700K to Educate Inmates

Brad Nygaard, The Bismarck Tribune

Slings and Arrows Set Aside in Allegheny County Jail-Based ‘Hamlet’ Workshops

Maddy Franklin, PublicSource

Prison to Classroom: Miami-Dade Invests in Inmate Education Program

Amelia Orjuela Da Silva, Miami Times

STATE POLICY

KCTCS Shares 2025 Policy Proposals, Including Consolidating Dual Credit

Bode Brooks, WEHT

Ohio Senate Moves Antisemitism Definition on Same Day It’s Criticized for Infringing on Free Speech

Susan Tebben, Ohio Capital Journal

The Clock Is Ticking, Ethnic Studies Remains an Unfunded Mandate; What Will Newsom Do?

John Fensterwald, EdSource

Efforts to Expand College Financial Aid Programs to Return Next Session

Molly Minta, Mississippi Today

Does the UW System's $855 Million Budget Request Bring Wisconsin Closer to Average?

Hope Karnopp, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

NEW PODCASTS

Washington Update: Implications of the 2024 Elections on Higher Ed: Part 1

Changing Higher Ed

The Digital Evolution of Education

Illumination by Modern Campus

Addressing the Disconnect Between Work and Learning Is Crucial for Economic Mobility

Work in Progress

Building Tomorrow's Workforce

The EdUP Experience

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

University Business

Holding Class While Holding Our Breath

Teaching in Higher Ed

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Daily Lumina News is edited by Patricia Brennan.

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