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.
David Boyer is stuck in a waiting game. For more than 18 months, the National Institutes of Health has remained silent on a crucial grant decision, leaving his research on developing treatments for Alzheimer’s disease in limbo. Without the funding, he has less to spend on his experiments. In a worst-case scenario, it’s possible he could lose his job if the grant doesn’t come through.
Boyer is not alone. The Trump administration has awarded fewer grants toward scientific research or eliminated them altogether. But now, researchers at California universities have some hope that they could get a reprieve—from California voters.
College graduates who earn a microcredential are likely to fare better in an increasingly challenging job market than those without one. That’s one of the main takeaways in a new report of 3,500 students, employers, and higher education leaders regarding the new currency for career readiness.
The findings point to the role that microcredentials can play in helping students build career-relevant skills, enabling employers to confidently hire new workers and allowing universities to align their curriculum more closely and quickly to emerging workforce demands.
Spelman College, the Historically Black College and University for women, has named a roboticist and artificial intelligence expert as its next president. The selection of Ayanna M. Howard, the dean of Ohio State University’s engineering college, represents a departure for a 145-year-old liberal arts school whose modern presidents have included doctors, an anthropologist, and a psychologist.
But as the higher education industry grapples with the rise of artificial intelligence and how the technology may reshape the global workforce, Howard says that liberal arts students at places like Spelman should lean into the development of AI.
In February, the president of the University of North Texas, Harrison Keller, warned that the institution was facing a $45 million budget deficit for the current fiscal year. He cited a dual decline in state funding and international graduate student enrollment, calling the university’s shortfall “structural, not just temporary.” The school has since cut over 70 low-enrolling academic programs.
In this interview, Keller talks about adapting to lower state funding and tuition revenue, working with faculty amid academic restructuring, and why all college leaders need to “confront the brutal facts” of their finances if they want to build resilience.
Republican House appropriators are planning to shore up funding for Pell Grants, which aid low-income college students. But they would do so through cuts that include eliminating subsidized federal student loans. Higher education groups are calling it a poor solution to the estimated $17 billion Pell shortfall.
The National College Attainment Network conservatively estimates that ending subsidized loans—which don’t accrue interest while students are attending college at least half-time—would increase average student debt by $6,000.
As learners increasingly expect education to translate into meaningful career opportunities, institutions are being challenged to create more intentional connections between academic experiences, skill development, and workforce needs. Experts say success depends on building integrated pathways that combine employer-informed curriculum and cross-campus collaboration to better prepare students for evolving career landscapes.
Edwin Blanton of The University of Texas at San Antonio shares his thoughts on how institutions can design education around career outcomes and embed experiential learning throughout the learner journey.
