Top Higher Education News for Friday
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.

June 6, 2025

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May May Be Over, But Mental Health Challenges on Campus Are Far From It

Michelle Asha Cooper, Diverse Issues in Higher Education

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Today’s college students face immense challenges. This generation is coming of age in a world shaped by instability. They are digital natives—always connected, yet deeply isolated and yearning for authentic human connection. They have survived a pandemic but still live in the shadows of economic uncertainty and climate change. They are struggling not only to pay tuition but also to meet their most basic needs: food, housing, and, in some cases, childcare. 

 

On behalf of students, we must confront this crisis with compassion, collaboration, and conviction, writes Lumina Foundation's Michelle Asha Cooper in this op-ed.

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China Really Wants to Attract Talented Scientists. Trump Just Helped.

Vivian Wang, The New York Times

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China was already scoring wins in its rivalry with the United States for scientific talent. It had drawn some of the world’s best researchers to its campuses, people decorated with Nobel Prizes, MacArthur “Genius” grants, and seemingly every other academic laurel on offer.

 

Now the Trump administration’s policies might soon bolster China’s efforts.

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No, Trump Is Not Pulling Columbia’s Accreditation. Here’s What You Need to Know.

Eric Kelderman, The Chronicle of Higher Education

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President Donald Trump is yet again escalating his fight with the Ivy League, pressuring Columbia University’s accreditor to take action over allegations the institution violated federal anti-discrimination laws.

 

The threat against Columbia is another example of how the Trump administration is stretching the boundaries of federal law and regulation to achieve its ideological goals, accreditation experts say. While it’s unlikely to result in any significant penalty against Columbia, let alone a loss of accreditation, the move could also give the U.S. Department of Education a pretext to punish the accreditor.

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International Students Look to the U.K. Instead of the US

Willem Marx, NPR

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The Trump administration's proposals to tighten entry visa restrictions for international students could significantly reduce their numbers at U.S. universities in the years ahead.

 

However, several education experts say the consequences may also be felt by some students and schools in Britain, as elite U.K. institutions prepare for a potential influx of international applicants redirected from the United States. 

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Getting To and Through College in the Time of Trump

Gabriela Montell, The Education Trust

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Getting to and through college isn’t straightforward. Recent attacks by the Trump administration on universities, free speech, campus DEI initiatives, and efforts to undercut the federal student loan and financial aid system only add to this challenge and threaten to make life harder for many students—especially first-generation students, students of color, and students from low-income backgrounds.

 

In this essay, a student at a private university in Colorado talks about her academic journey and how this administration’s policies are affecting students and campus life at her college.

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How Hungary’s Higher Education Overhaul Became a Model for U.S. Conservatives

Joshua Coe, The World

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Universities in the United States face the possibility of federal funding cuts if they don’t comply with President Donald Trump's demands to walk back initiatives that his administration deems biased.

 

Internationally, the use of federal funding to force change in higher education settings is nothing new. The Trump administration might be learning from Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán.

HUMAN WORK AND LEARNING

Most Recent Grads Report a Positive College Experience

Laura Ascione, eCampus News

What America Needs Most From the Class of 2025

Shaun Harper, Resident Scholar

What Professors Want to Know About AI and Teaching

Beth McMurtrie, Teaching

STUDENT SUPPORT

New Tech Tools Help Colleges Support International Students

Ashley Mowreader, Inside Higher Ed

Using Summer as Powerful Predictor of Future Student Success

Jeff Doyle, The EvoLLLution

As Penn State Branch Campus Closures Loom, Regional Colleges Step Up to Support Students

Maddie Aiken, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

These Colleges Look to Overcome Cuts to Federal Student Support

Alcino Donadel, University Business

COLLEGE ENROLLMENTS

Clark University Announces Plans to Scale Down Operations; Layoffs Coming

Jesse Collings, Worcester Telegram & Gazette

These 15 Colleges Are the Hardest to Get Into in the US

Diane Mwai, Advance Local

Illinois Bill Offers Automatic University Enrollment for Some Students

Chris Essex, WTHI

Opinion: In Five Rural California Counties, Community College Access Is Lacking

Miles Menetrey, The Sacramento Bee

STATE POLICY

Murphy Plans to Axe Summer Tuition Aid for College Students

Hannah Gross, NJ Spotlight News

Ohio College Students Could Pay More Under State Senate Budget Proposal

Amy Morona, Signal Cleveland

Top DeSantis Aide Named Next Florida Education Commissioner

Kate Payne, Associated Press

Braun Defends Move on IU Trustees While Terminated Members Speak Out

Ethan Sandweiss, Indiana Public Media

NEW REPORTS

Californians and Civic Education

Public Policy Institute of California

The Effects of High School Remediation on Long-Run Educational Attainment

Annenberg Institute at Brown University

Five Ways Community Colleges Drive Workforce Development

Center for American Progress

International College Students Matter for the Economy

Brookings Institution

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

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