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.
Childcare workers, students, and teachers shared their dismay over immigration and customs enforcement raids. College presidents described how uncertainty around federal funding is making their jobs far trickier. A for-profit college president says he is grateful for recent changes to education policy and the importance of workforce education.
Those are just a few of the many reactions from 17 parents, students, educators, and others around the country when asked about the impact of President Donald Trump's actions this year on their schools and communities.
This month, the University of Alabama suspended two student magazines—one called Alice, which covers women, and another, Nineteen Fifty-Six, which focuses on Black students on campus. University officials cited a Justice Department memo as the reason behind the suspensions. The memo is part of a Trump administration effort to combat what it considers discriminatory diversity, equity, and inclusion policies on college campuses.
In this interview, Kendal Wright, editor-in-chief of Nineteen Fifty-Six, reacts to the suspensions.
Leaders in the Austin neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side see higher education as a way for young Black men there to lift up themselves and their neighborhood. But students like Tyrek Gates confront some of the most formidable challenges of any student group on their path to college graduation.
In Austin, just one out of four Black men who go to college graduate within six years. Austin residents who have made it to graduation say mentorship can improve this trajectory and help Black men overcome the perception that they do not belong in college.
The higher education sector experienced rapid change in 2025, as leaders navigated new and evolving federal and state policy, emerging technologies, and shifting employer expectations for graduates, all while responding to the diverse and pressing needs of students.
For practitioners, faculty, staff and administrators looking to impact student success in the new year, Inside Higher Ed identified 26 data points that outline the major trends of 2025 and those to watch out for in 2026.
Whenever there’s a chance to bring new opportunities to the rural communities in its region, Eastern West Virginia Community and Technical College in Moorefield, West Virginia, is up for the challenge. The next step for the institution is to become a sponsor of Registered Apprenticeship programs for the first time.
RA is a powerful pathway that boosts wages for workers and yields higher productivity and other benefits for employers, earning them $1.44 for every dollar they spend. For rural communities like those around Eastern, RA can also be a tool for developing and retaining homegrown talent.
The manufacturing industry has long bemoaned the decline of its workforce. Yet today’s manufacturing educational pathways look much like they did in the ’80s, when hiring numbers began declining.
Meanwhile, apprenticeship programs remain scarce, with just 678,000 apprentices registered nationwide (in comparison, Germany’s labor force is less than a third of that of the United States, yet it maintains 1.22 million apprentices). Experts say one underrated option may hold the most promise for workforce growth in the U.S.: the local community college.
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