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Lumina

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 10, 2026

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TOP STORIES

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I Lied About Where I Lived to Get a Good Education. That Is Not a Success Story. That Is a Policy Failure.

Rakim D. Williams, The EDU Ledger

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Rakim D. Williams vividly remembers seventh grade. That's when his family used his older sister's work address to enroll him in a school that provided a better education than where he actually lived. Chance encounters with the right people and places would follow Williams through high school and then college as he navigated systems that were not built to help him succeed.

 

In this essay, Williams describes his journey through those systems and asks what higher education must do for students who fight so hard just to reach the starting line.

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States Need Better Adult Learner Strategies

Joshua Bay, Inside Higher Ed

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As institutions nationwide face enrollment declines and demographic pressures, they are increasingly looking to re-enroll adults who started college but never finished—not only to fill their coffers but also to bolster state workforce pipelines. Well over 43 million Americans have earned some college credit but never completed a degree or credential, representing a significant pool of potential students.

 

A new report from ReUp Education outlines how states can improve efforts to re-engage them.

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Rural College Students Step Up to Support Small-Town Peers

Emily Lytle, The Daily Yonder

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At Chico State in Northern California, paid student ambassadors have led efforts to create a stronger sense of belonging and community among rural students on campus, strengthened outreach to rural high school students in the university’s 12-county service region, and researched topics related to rural student success and identity.

 

These students are also moving the needle on some of the same broad issues facing today's higher education leaders, including rural students’ enrollment and persistence in college and the tension to stay or leave their rural hometowns after graduation.

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'Shell-Shocked' Chicago Scientists Raise Alarm About Federal Overhaul of Research Grant Funding

Elvia Malagón, WBEZ Chicago

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After working for years in the pharmaceutical industry, Joseph Dominguez enjoyed the freedom to take on scientific research he found in an academic institution that had no commercial ties.

 

Today, Dominguez and other researchers in Chicago are mobilizing their peers to submit public comments ahead of a proposed rule they say would significantly change the country’s approach to funding science innovation and research. The Office of Management and Budget's proposal would overhaul how federal research grants are awarded. If that happens, grants could be terminated or suspended with little due process, critics warn.

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Higher Ed Is as American as Apple Pie

Jack Stripling, College Matters

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Higher education isn’t an American invention, but few institutions reflect the hopes and anxieties of a remarkable democratic experiment as richly as the roughly 4,000 colleges that dot the country’s landscape.

 

On this episode of College Matters, the conversation celebrates the nation’s 250th birthday with a big question: What makes American higher education American?

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Expanding Journalism Around Education, Work, and the Innovation Economy

Shalin Jyotishi, Forbes

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Massive federal and private investments, spurred by artificial intelligence and federal industrial policies, are reshaping American communities and affecting education, the workforce, and the economy. However, local journalism's ability to cover these profound changes is severely declining, with a 75 percent drop in local reporting since the early 2000s. This gap leaves communities and voters left with crucial questions about how these investments are playing out in their communities.

 

In response, New America and the non-profit newsroom Work Shift are launching a "Future of Work Reporting Fellowship." The fellowship will fund and support local journalists to produce in-depth reports on how technological and economic shifts are unfolding in specific regions with a focus on education and training.

HUMAN WORK AND LEARNING

Young Job-Hunters Are Searching for an Edge. How About an AI Class?

Milla Surjadi, The Dallas Morning News

Articulation 2.0: The Next Evolution of Transfer Credit

Rose Rojas, Beyond Transfer

Opinion: The Conversations We Keep Avoiding

Jamal Watson, The EDU Ledger

EQUITY IN EDUCATION

How Far Can One Supreme Court Ruling Stretch?

Sara Custer, Editor's Note

'Censored Education': Faculty Groups Sue Texas Tech Over Curriculum Rules Targeting Race, Gender Topics

Lucio Vasquez, The Texas Newsroom

The Fight Over Teaching Race and Gender in College Classrooms Is Escalating

Nadra Nittle, The 19th

Some Yale Professors Threaten Legal Action If University Settles Admissions Complaint With DOJ

Joshua Eaton, CT Insider

COLLEGE AFFORDABILITY

Additional Interest Rate Reductions Are Unlikely to Increase Student Loan Repayment Among Struggling Borrowers

Kristin Blagg and Jason Cohn, Urban Wire

Georgia Opens New College Scholarship Fund for Former Foster Youth

Jordan Anderson, The Imprint

Commentary: Record FAFSA Numbers Didn't Happen by Accident

Patrick Methvin, RealClearEducation

STATE POLICY

Gov. Braun Launches Workforce Pell Grant in Indiana

Malik Simon, Indianapolis Recorder

How Louisiana Colleges Will Spend Millions in the State Budget

Piper Hutchinson, Louisiana Illuminator

Federal Financial Aid for Career Training Is Here. When Will Wisconsinites Benefit?

Natalie Yahr and Miranda Dunlap, Wisconsin Watch

NEW REPORTS

The Influence of Program Costs on
Noncredit Workforce Education Enrollment

The Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations

Closing the Adoption Gap: How AI Is Being Built in the Global South

New America

Reassessing the Role of Standardized Tests in University Admissions

National Bureau of Economic Research

How Prepared Is Today's Workforce for Tomorrow's Demands?

Chegg

luminafoundation.org
Daily Lumina News is edited by Patricia Brennan.

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