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.
Minority-serving institutions are experiencing an uncomfortable state of uncertainty.
Congress appropriated funding for MSI grant programs for the current fiscal year, including small increases for most, in the budget enacted earlier this month. But the legislation also leaves some room for the Trump administration to move the money around after government officials repeatedly signaled they’re against doling out the funds. That puts the upward of $400 million Congress allocated for MSIs and other related programs at risk.
Public confidence in American higher education has fallen dramatically over the past decade, dropping from 57 percent in 2015 to just 36 percent in 2024, according to a new report from Gallup and Lumina Foundation. However, the experiences of students and graduates present a remarkably different story.
The College Reality Check: What Students Experience vs. What America Believes draws on responses from nearly 4,000 currently enrolled associate and bachelor's degree students and nearly 6,000 college graduates. The findings suggest that the loudest criticisms driving public doubt—campus politics, poor career preparation, and unaffordable tuition—do not match what most students are experiencing.
Last week, Senator Bill Cassidy of the Senate HELP Committee announced a markup of the Understanding the True Cost of College Act of 2025, a long-standing, bipartisan consumer protection bill designed to bring clarity and comparability to financial aid offers. To student and consumer advocates, this was welcome news. For over a decade, this legislation has served as a sensible solution to a well-documented issue: it mandates a standard, uniform financial aid offer, enabling students to make fair comparisons between the actual cost of college and the financial aid they anticipate receiving.
But in the final hours before the markup, the bill has been replaced with a "manager’s amendment" that strips out the very protections that made the legislation meaningful.
Housed in one of Ohio State’s sturdy brick buildings, the Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society was created by Ohio’s Republican-dominated legislature with the explicit goal of enticing students to take courses taught by a newly hired group of conservative philosophers, political scientists, and historians.
Republican politicians have championed similar centers or schools at public universities in eight other states, including North Carolina, Florida, and Utah. Critics argue that these centers are politicizing faculty hiring decisions and diverting resources from other academic departments and necessary campus improvements.
When Nick Swayne took over as president of North Idaho College—assuming a role that had been held by the wrestling coach—the institution’s board of trustees ousted him within months. He sued and was reinstated. The board then attempted to terminate his contract. Five years later, Swayne is still in the job.
North Idaho College was one of the first higher-education institutions to face major disruption as a result of a perception on the right that it had been captured by leftist ideology and needed to be rooted out—a phenomenon that has come to define higher education in this decade.
The food pantry at Austin Community College’s Highland campus was busy, with a steady stream of students stocking up on essentials. Many items had posted limits—one cabbage, two onions, three potatoes—but other vegetables were in abundance. “Take more,” the cashier urged the shoppers, some stopping in between classes. And they did.
With three in five American undergraduates reporting food or housing insecurity, a new model of support has taken hold on college campuses. From Harvard University to Hostos Community College in New York City to the University of Minnesota, schools are offering food pantries, emergency grants, and transportation help. It is a matter of survival—for both students and colleges.
