Top Higher Education News for Wednesday
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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.

July 9, 2025

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Colleges Use Podcasts to Reach Students

Ashley Mowreader, Inside Higher Ed

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College students say they’re inundated with social media pings and emails from their institution, making it difficult to cut through the noise and absorb important information. As a response, an increasing number of higher education professionals are getting behind the microphone to offer guidance and assistance to both current and prospective students.

 

About 47 percent of Gen Z adults who spend time online listen to podcasts, according to data from Edison Research and SXM Media. A majority of Gen Z listeners who engage with podcasts at least monthly tend to binge episodes, listening to multiple ones in a single sitting.

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The Wrecking of American Research

Karin Fischer, The Chronicle of Higher Education

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The United States has produced nearly three times the number of Nobel laureates as any other country. Indeed, the compact between research universities and the federal government—that the government provides funding for basic scientific research, and universities execute it—has led to biomedical and technological breakthroughs, prosperity, and national security.

 

However, experts warn that as the United States approaches its 250th birthday, the country's research infrastructure faces potential collapse due to the impact of the Trump administration.

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Course Catalog: Food for Thought—Literally

Fernanda Zamudio-Suarez, College Matters

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We often take food for granted or misunderstand its profound influence on our daily lives. At Texas Christian University, in a course called the “Sociology of Food,” students learn how food functions as sustenance, a commodity, and a sociocultural force.

 

Edgar Jesus Campos, an assistant professor of sociology at TCU, says some of his students enroll in the class to better understand their bodies and consumption patterns. While they gain that knowledge, they also leave with a deeper understanding of how global economic and political forces play into their personal diets.

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Caltech Agrees to Settle Lawsuit Accusing It of Misleading Students

Alan Blinder, The New York Times

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The California Institute of Technology has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit that accused it of misleading students who signed up for a “boot camp” that carried Caltech’s name but in practice had scant ties to the school, one of the world’s richest universities.

 

The settlement calls for Caltech and an outside partner, Simplilearn, to change how they advertise the boot camp, adding new restrictions that threaten the program’s allure. The settlement, which still requires a judge’s approval, may influence how other schools market similar offerings.

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Higher Education on the Chopping Block

Sarah Sattelmeyer, Stephanie Baker, Rachel Fishman, and Olivia Sawyer, New America

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Change is coming to higher education. Last week, Congressional Republicans pushed through, and President Donald Trump signed, budget legislation via an expedited process called reconciliation. The bill, which has been unpopular with many Americans, cuts close to $300 billion from the higher education system and also makes deep cuts to programs such as SNAP and Medicaid.

 

Here are five things to know about the higher education provisions in the reconciliation bill and why they matter for students, borrowers, and families.

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With American Democracy Under Strain, Students Debate Its Resilience

Susan Svrluga, The Washington Post

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A dozen students gathered around a classroom table one afternoon last fall, their professor’s dog napping in a patch of sunlight on the floor, to do something they rarely did anywhere else on campus: talk about politics.

 

All first-year students start their time at Johns Hopkins University by choosing a seminar. These 12 students, wildly varied in backgrounds, ideologies, and interests, had signed up for “Democratic Erosion.” The emotional discussions that took place reveal how one generation sees democracy.

HUMAN WORK AND LEARNING

How One Big Step for American Well-Being Lies in Small Credentials

Alcino Donadel, University Business

‘It’s Just Bots Talking to Bots’: AI Is Running Rampant on College Campuses as Students and Professors Alike Lean on the Tech

Beatrice Nolan, Fortune

Perspective: I Became a Scientist, But I Don’t Know If My Career Will Exist in Five Years

Rory Greenhalgh, The Sacramento Bee

Blog: Three Questions for National University’s Errin Heyman

Joshua Kim, Learning Innovation

EQUITY IN EDUCATION

It Was a Milestone for Progressive Education in California. Then It Unraveled

Robin Buller, The Guardian

How Trump’s Anti-DEI Push Is Unraveling College Scholarships

Tali Arbel, The Wall Street Journal

Black, Hispanic, First-Gen Students Receive Shorter Letters of Recommendation

Johanna Alonso, Inside Higher Ed

Views: What to HBCUs Is the Fourth of July?

Crystal deGregory, Diverse Issues in Higher Education

COLLEGE ENROLLMENTS

Out-of-State Enrollment at Public Colleges Is at an All-Time High. What That Means for South Carolina Students.

Anna Mitchell, The Post and Courier

Facing Declining Enrollment and Financial Headwinds, Burlington’s Champlain College Reshapes Its Academic Programs

Corey McDonald, VT Digger

Three Charts That Tell the Story of Spring 2025 Enrollment

Laura Spitalniak, Higher Ed Dive

Commentary: College Counseling in the Classroom

Joshua Hyman, Education Next

FEDERAL POLICY

On Capitol Hill, Community Colleges Raise NSF, Science Policy Concerns

Shalin Jyotishi, Forbes

How Republicans’ Endowment Tax Will Hurt Higher Education

Owen Dahlkamp, The Nation

Boston University, Broad Institute Among Higher Ed Institutions Cutting Staff, Citing Federal Funding Cuts

WBUR

Blog: FIPSE Programs Deserve Sustained Federal Support

Angélica Gutiérrez, Deborah Martin, and Erika Roberson, The Institute for College Access & Success

NEW REPORTS AND EVENTS

Webinar: The Big Beautiful Bill Has Passed. What’s Next?

dotEDU

The Effects of AI on Firms and Workers

Brookings Institution

Where Discovery Happens: Research Institutions and Fundamental Knowledge in the Life-Sciences

National Bureau of Economic Research

Students Are AI Optimists, But Women Are at Risk of Being Left Behind

WGU Labs

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Daily Lumina News is edited by Patricia Brennan.

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