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.
Research shows that applying to college can often be overwhelming and confusing, causing some students to abandon their application altogether. A new pilot program led by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission intends to simplify the process and increase college enrollment by automatically guaranteeing certain high school students spots at dozens of in-state colleges. Personalized estimates of available state and institutional aid will also accompany the offers.
Called TN Direct Admissions, the effort makes Tennessee the first state to link direct admission initiatives with financial aid commitments.
We are now six months into the second Trump administration, and colleges are confronting a vast array of threats to their budgets, including cuts in federal research funding, an increased endowment tax, and a possible chill in international enrollment. In response, many colleges are instituting hiring freezes, conducting layoffs, issuing bonds, and embracing novel budgeting strategies.
In this interview, six people on the frontlines of higher education’s financial turmoil explain how they’re navigating these challenges.
Students and their families frequently evaluate the value of college based on its return on investment. And with the high cost of attending college, it's reasonable to want college students to earn enough after graduation to pay back loans or to make the time spent in the classroom worth it.
However, colleges offer vast benefits that extend beyond individual wages and employability. To help make the broader benefits more concrete, a project from the Urban Institute aims to help community colleges talk about the value they bring to their communities in new and nuanced ways.
During lunchtime at LeMoyne-Owen College, Memphis’ only Historically Black College and University, President Christopher Davis finds South Memphians of all ages taking advantage of the $6 meals in the cafeteria, one of the few fast and affordable fresh food options in the neighborhood.
In the poorest zip code in the city, LeMoyne-Owen College is a lifeline for students and their families. But that lifeline is fraying. Today, Davis describes his biggest challenge as tolerating “uncertainty” amid unprecedented threats to federal higher education funding.
Recent federal cuts are targeting an additional aspect of college and university budgets and operations: on-campus broadcast and radio stations.
On July 18, Congress voted to rescind $1.1 billion in federal funds for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which gives money to NPR, PBS, and their member stations. The move hurts local stations across the country, creating news deserts and limiting experiential learning opportunities for students.
As universities across the country sign lucrative contracts with artificial intelligence companies, faculty members are being left out of critical decisions that directly impact their work and student learning, according to a new report from the American Association of University Professors.
The findings reveal a troubling disconnect between administrative enthusiasm for AI and faculty concerns about its implementation.
