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.
College enrollment increased again this fall, continuing a cautious recovery for higher education following the decline of the COVID pandemic. But it isn’t four-year institutions driving much of the growth. It’s community colleges.
Yet even as more students choose two-year institutions as their pathway to higher education, the outdated perception that community colleges are for those who couldn’t get in elsewhere persists. Removing the stigma and acknowledging two-year institutions as a strategic option for ambitious students seeking to maximize their higher education investment is long overdue, says Aarti Dhupelia of One Million Degrees in this commentary.
The nation’s oldest state-supported military college, Virginia Military Institute, may face losing public funding as newly empowered Virginia Democrats seek to determine whether it has done enough to root out racism and sexism at the school.
It’s the latest in a growing push in higher education from Virginia Democrats, who now hold larger majorities in both chambers of the General Assembly and control the governor’s mansion. They’ve quickly moved to reshape how universities operate and unwind efforts from conservatives and the Trump administration to end diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
Students seeking higher education have some difficult choices to make. Often, these are financial: how to get a degree without getting into unsustainable debt. But the choices about if and where to attend college go far beyond that to issues of academic, extracurricular, and cultural opportunity.
Faculty members overwhelmingly agree that generative artificial intelligence will have an impact on teaching and learning in higher education, but whether that impact is positive or negative is still up for debate.
Nine in 10 professors say that generative AI will diminish students’ critical thinking skills, and 95 percent believe its impact will increase students’ overreliance on AI tools over time, according to this report from the American Association of Colleges and Universities and Elon University. At the same time, many think that teaching AI literacy is important and that it is vital for those in higher education to stress the ethical, environmental, and social consequences of AI use.
Leaders at Iowa's 15 community colleges are advocating for legislative authority to offer four-year bachelor's degrees, joining a growing national movement to address workforce needs and educational access gaps in rural America.
The push comes as Iowa faces a significant credential gap: 42 percent of jobs currently require a bachelor's degree, while only 22 percent of residents hold one. The state's public universities primarily serve central and eastern regions, leaving many rural communities more than 30 miles from a four-year institution.
The federal government denied Hampton University special funds for over 100 years because it believed that only one Black institution in Virginia could receive land-grant funding.
Now, state lawmakers want to overturn that 1920 decision and restore Hampton’s land-grant status. The move is part of a broader effort to reform segregation-era policies with present-day values of equity and opportunity. The bill, carried by Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, would also establish a special fund to support this restoration.
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