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.
For decades, Bangalore, India, has been an incubator for scientific talent, sending newly minted Ph.D.s around the world to do groundbreaking research. In an ordinary year, many aim their sights at labs in the United States.
But this is not an ordinary year. Now, as the Trump administration withdraws the welcome mat for promising researchers from around the world, America is at risk of losing its longstanding pre-eminence in the sciences.
Arkansas LAUNCH, a platform that’s part job board and part career map for those looking to upskill, is at the forefront of state efforts to better use data to match people and employers.
With funding from Walmart and development support from Research Improving People’s Lives, the goal is to ultimately build out a full-fledged learning and employment record system that maps both credentials and skills. Employers can then seek out people who may not have applied for jobs based on their skills—whether they learned them in a formal degree program or not.
As the Trump administration pauses new student visas in its battle to force change at the nation’s elite universities, economists warn that the loss of international students would affect not just the schools that depend on their tuition but local and state economies as well.
The more than 1.1 million international students who studied in the United States last year contributed nearly $44 billion to the U.S. economy during the 2023-2024 school year—from $10 million in Alaska to more than $6 billion in California—and supported more than 378,000 jobs.
Federal funding disruptions in 2025 have destabilized the foundation of academic public health across the United States, resulting in thousands of job losses, halted critical research programs, and billions in projected economic losses, according to a new report from the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health.
The report provides the first detailed analysis of how grant freezes, budget reductions, and agency restructurings implemented since January 2025 are devastating higher education institutions nationwide.
Across the higher education landscape, a quiet revolution is underway—one that challenges outdated paradigms and brings new meaning to access, affordability, and equity.
Community colleges, long known for offering two-year degrees, are emerging as critical engines of workforce development and social mobility by offering bachelor’s degrees tailored to adult learners, first-generation students, and underserved populations.
The House budget bill passed in May threatens to bring major changes to federal financial aid for low-income students—and community colleges are bracing for impact.
If the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act goes into effect as is, community college leaders expect hundreds of thousands of students to lose their Pell Grants, causing enrollments to plummet.
