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.
Before Donald Trump took office one year ago, higher education leaders expected that colleges and universities would face more scrutiny and pressure from the federal government. But few anticipated the pace and force of the changes that the Trump administration quickly embarked on.
Today, leaders say they can’t depend on the federal government under Trump, and they are struggling to grapple with what feels like an ever-shifting political landscape. It remains unclear how lasting the impact will be, though some experts predict that the president's first year will go down as a watershed period.
Women in the United States now earn 40 percent more doctoral degrees overall and nearly twice as many master’s degrees as men, according to the U.S. Department of Education—a trend transforming high-end work. More than some distant statistical abstraction, Americans can see it when they take their pets to the vet or their kids to the dentist, need a lawyer or an eye exam, see a therapist, or pick up a prescription.
The dramatic shift in who is being trained for these fields is partly because more women are going into them. But it’s also the result of a steady slide in the number of men enrolling in graduate and professional schools.
A chill has settled over the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Last fall, the number of new international undergraduates fell by 25 percent compared to the previous year. The number of new international graduate students also fell, declining by more than 27 percent.
International programs began decades ago as a way to open up cultural exchange. Now, international students are a key to keeping universities solvent and competitive in science and technology research.
Federal student loan borrowers are paying down their debt more slowly than before the COVID-19 payment pause, and delinquency rates have climbed back to pre-pandemic levels, signaling potential defaults ahead, according to a new Urban Institute analysis.
The report uses credit bureau data to track borrower progress in the two years since most federal student loan borrowers resumed payments in October 2023 after a three-year pause. For many, the findings reveal a concerning picture of borrower involvement in the federal student loan system, as the pandemic-era protections have gradually disappeared.
The National Endowment for the Humanities announced $75.1 million in new grants last week, with much of the funding contained in a total of 84 awards directed to conservative-leaning projects and other priorities set by the Trump administration.
Several of the grants, including the largest ones, were awarded to universities for newly established civic centers or for the teaching of Western civilization and the classics. Meanwhile, some faculty members are criticizing the new awards for their conservative slant and their apparent departure from traditional peer review.
Renee Tastad says leaders at Holyoke Community College take it very seriously when a student withdraws from classes, whether for a semester or permanently. But the conversations that follow the withdrawals, over the years, have helped many more students avoid a similar path.
What has emerged from those discussions is an evolving array of student supports at HCC, including the Thrive Center food pantry, a safe space for children while student-parents are on campus, and an emergency student fund that helps learners with unexpected expenses.
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