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.
The White House is seeking to place new limits on the authority and autonomy of accrediting agencies, pushing for more government oversight of how they operate and what they require from colleges. Nicholas Kent, the U.S. Department of Education's top higher education official, has made it clear that overhauling accreditation is a top priority in the coming year and contends new regulations are coming soon. The Trump administration says it aims to increase the focus on outcomes and create competition among accreditors.
But a key question remains: Will the proposed changes serve students or political purposes?
What is the real value in building college and career pathways if students are unable to successfully navigate them? Only 47 percent of recent survey respondents who identify as Gen Z say they have enough information to decide what pathway is best for them. Meanwhile, 53 percent of navigators and educators admit they only provide support after a young adult asks for help.
Many state leaders are beginning to realize that advising is a critical component of their college and career pathways infrastructure. But advising is deeply complex. It requires examining key questions about the role of advisors, how to measure effectiveness, and deciding where advice should reside within a pathway ecosystem that spans across K-12, higher education, and the workforce.
Technological breakthroughs often lead to structural changes in the labor market. Advancements such as the power loom, internal combustion engine, and computer have remade or replaced some once-critical occupations. Despite the pain these changes can cause, new occupations emerge to replace the old ones.
Some believe AI's rise means the end of human jobs and postsecondary education as job prep. Jeff Strohl of the Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University thinks it’s more likely that both human work and postsecondary education will survive, albeit transformed. He explains more in this blog post.
The apprenticeship space is growing exponentially and has become an essential component of today’s evolving economy.
In this interview, four philanthropic leaders, including Jamie Merisotis from Lumina Foundation, discuss various aspects of apprenticeships: what works, what doesn’t, what’s new in terms of job-embedded higher education, and what is needed to provide all students in every postsecondary pathway with a paid learning experience that connects to work and their program of study.
Total enrollment in U.S. MD-granting medical schools exceeded 100,000 students for the first time in the 2025-26 academic year, according to data from the Association of American Medical Colleges.
The surge in applications comes at a critical time for healthcare workforce planning, as the nation faces projected physician shortages in both primary care and specialty fields. Medical educators have worked for years to expand enrollment capacity, and the crossing of the 100,000-student threshold represents a significant benchmark in those efforts.
Brown University is an elite school, set high on a hill, with manicured greens and wrought-iron gates. But one of its special features is that those gates are often open to the larger city of Providence, Rhode Island—both physically and metaphorically. City residents frequently attend school events, and students and professors report that certain buildings often remain unlocked.
Brown has long maintained a porous boundary between campus and city, part of its commitment to public service. Now, with the university in mourning after last weekend's shooting, some students are wondering how to balance that openness with their safety.
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