Top Higher Education News for Thursday
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 19, 2024

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Virginia Foxx Reflects on Her Time in the Hot Seat

Liam Knox, Inside Higher Ed

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It’s Virginia Foxx’s last week as chair of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, and she’s feeling reflective. When the North Carolina Republican assumed the chair in early 2023, her main goal was to finally reauthorize the Higher Education Act, which had been languishing since 2008. Her vision didn't happen.

 

In this interview, the 81-year-old congresswoman talks about the year that shook higher education, abolishing the U.S. Department of Education, and ushering in a new era for federal oversight of colleges.

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Looking for Internships? They Are in Short Supply

Jon Marcus, The Hechinger Report

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Internships play a vital role in transitioning students from college to the world of work, providing a valuable workforce training tool and even helping them secure employment. But there's one problem: Internships are in short supply.

 

Last year, employers provided 2.5 million high-quality internships, compared to 8.2 million people who wanted one, according to a recent report from the Business-Higher Education Forum. The organization says another million internships offered did not meet the high standards of quality and skill development.

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Texas Students Are Experiencing the Impact of SB 17

Lois Elfman, Diverse Issues in Higher Education

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On January 1, 2024, a new bill known as SB 17 went into effect in the state of Texas, effectively banning diversity, equity, and inclusion programming and training at public institutions.

 

Now, nearly one year later, the experiences of the students navigating a new reality under the legislation are coming to light. In a new study, the USC Race and Equity Center suggests that a lack of DEI programming is jeopardizing critical efforts designed to empower students, foster inclusion, and address systemic disparities.

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Sudden Loss of Undocumented Workers Threw Tech Supplier Into Upheaval

Steve Eder, The New York Times

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Jabil, a major manufacturer of electronics components for the tech industry, made a startling discovery in the spring of 2021: It had been relying on dozens of undocumented workers, contracted from a staffing agency, to power its manufacturing sites near Silicon Valley. Jabil ultimately fired the individuals, causing the company to fall behind on both existing orders and bids for new business.

 

How Jabil navigated the sudden loss of undocumented workers—years before Donald J. Trump won re-election on a pledge of mass deportations of illegal immigrants—foreshadows the possible road ahead for companies that rely on staffing agencies to fill jobs at factories, warehouses, and distribution centers.

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California Wants to Give Degrees Based on Skills—Not Grades. It’s Dividing This College

Adam Echelman, CalMatters

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California’s community colleges are experimenting with competency-based education, but at Madera Community College, it’s creating a divide between faculty and college administrators.

 

In the new model, students learn at their own pace and can finish their courses whenever they prove that they’ve mastered the requisite skill or “competency.” Advocates say competency-based learning is an opportunity to help employers and get older adults who lack a college degree back to school.

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Turning AI Into a Valuable Career Tool

Ramona Schindelheim, Work in Progress

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It's a question on the minds of many current and future employees across the country: Will artificial intelligence eliminate jobs or unlock economic opportunity for workers and the human potential in all of us?

 

Ellie Bertan of GitLab Foundation weighs in with her thoughts on the impact of AI, its equity potential, and how her organization aims to make the technology work for people, not against them.

HUMAN WORK AND LEARNING

Americans Value Trade Colleges Over Ivies

Sara Weissman, Inside Higher Ed

Can Universities Build Community? A Conference Explores Possible Paths

Steve Dubb, Nonprofit Quarterly

New Report Highlights Opportunities to Strengthen Classroom-to-Career Programs

San Marcos Record

Career Navigation Maps Pathways to Economic Opportunity

Bruno V. Manno, Forbes

Northern Virginia Community College’s Earn to Learn Program Hopes to Address Nursing Shortage

Scott Gelman, WTOP

Opinion: Employers Should Drop Hiring Preferences for 'Elite 34' Colleges

Preston Cooper, American Enterprise Institute

RACIAL JUSTICE AND EQUITY

‘Waste of Time’ Versus ‘Key Resource’: What Idaho Students Think About DEI on Campus

Carolyn Komatsoulis, Idaho Statesman

Austin Area Nonprofits Say They’re Struggling Without DEI Funding

Mercedez Hernandez, KXAN

No! Here's What We Stand for': Western Mass. College Leader Urges Higher Ed to Stand Up to Trump

Karen Brown, New England Public Media

'Divisive’ Is the Word of the Year in the Workplace, as Companies Like Walmart Drop Their DEI Efforts

Jane Thier, Fortune

Opinion: Breaking Barriers: My Eye-Opening Entry Into HBCU Life

Tanzania Cooper, Diverse Issues in Higher Education

FEDERAL POLICY

House Republicans Propose Big Subsidies for Well-Off Graduate Borrowers

Tia Caldwell, New America

A Second Trump Presidency Has Higher Education on Edge

Mark Lucivero and Cassie Semyon, Spectrum News

Walberg Selected to Lead House Education and the Workforce Committee

Maria Carrasco, National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

WIOA Included in Proposed Funding Extension

Matthew Dembicki, Community College Daily

Views: Is Higher Ed Ready to Be Bodyslammed?

Ryan Craig, Inside Higher Ed

Blog: No, the U.S. Department of Education Won’t Be Abolished

Frederick Hess, Education Next

AFFORDABILITY

Many Hoosiers Still Confused About Paying for College

Joe Ulery, Public News Service

More Fort Worth High Schoolers Are Earning College Credit Tuition-Free. Here’s How.

Silas Allen, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Tackling Student Loan Debt in Times of Uncertainty

Marybeth Gasman, Forbes

Higher Education Department Says Some College Tuitions Could Increase Next Fall

Melissa Torres, KRQE

NEW REPORTS

Voters Have a Favorable View of Higher Education, But Think It Has Become Too Expensive to Attend College

Data for Progress

The Future of Work 2025

WorkingNation

Income-Driven Repayment 101

The Institute for College Access & Success

Understanding the National Landscape of Credit for Prior Learning: Effective State and System Policies for Success and Equity

American Council on Education and CAEL

Understanding Belongingness, Support, and Perseverance: An Exploratory Study of the Educational Experiences of Foster Youth in California

UCLA’s Center for the Transformation of Schools

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Daily Lumina News is edited by Patricia Brennan.

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