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.
Anna Olson is set to finish her master's degree in school counseling at the University of Oklahoma next spring. Once that happens, she'll be able to provide much-needed mental health services. She says she never would have considered becoming a counselor if it weren't for a federally funded program that covered all the costs of her education.
But at the end of December, the federal grant that has been funding her education will likely end—two years earlier than expected—as part of broader cuts to school mental health made by the Trump administration earlier this year.
Colleges collectively receive more than $140 billion in federal student aid every year. At the beginning of this year, the U.S. Department of Education employed about 220 people to make sure that money actually went toward paying for students to attend legitimate educational institutions.
However, the department is currently conducting no such investigations. That’s because, in March, the newly confirmed secretary of education, Linda McMahon, fired more than 80 percent of the fraud-prevention and quality-assurance team.
When describing James Milliken’s legacy as chancellor of the University of Texas system, his supporters point to a plan that, starting this fall, allows many additional undergraduates to attend tuition-free if their families earn $100,000 or less annually.
Next month, Milliken will become president of the University of California system. Taking the helm at UC’s 10 campuses could be his biggest test yet, as he will inherit major challenges, including antagonism from the Trump administration and concerns about state support.
Many employers are looking for people with artificial intelligence skills, and community colleges are stepping up as key training partners to close this skills gap. By offering accessible and flexible programs aligned with industry needs, these institutions are helping to prepare the future workforce.
In this interview, journalists, policy experts, employers, college leaders, and students share their thoughts on the opportunities and challenges of AI education at community colleges.
Like many other private institutions, Catholic colleges are grappling with a shrinking pool of high school graduates even as their operational costs increase. These demographic challenges are often heightened for Catholic colleges, as nearby Catholic high schools—once considered a reliable recruitment pipeline—enroll a larger share of non-Catholic students to make up for steep declines in their traditional student populations.
Mergers may offer a viable path forward for some Catholic colleges. Yet it’s an option that is far too often dismissed and viewed as a defeat rather than as a tool, some experts say.
As dangerous myths about autism circulate on the national stage, many colleges echo a quieter, yet similarly misguided assumption: that autistic students are socially isolated or incapable of forming meaningful relationships.
But many autistic college students have a very different story to tell—one that is grounded in connection, authenticity, and a campus community built on their terms.
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