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.
First-generation college students who stop out of college overwhelmingly turn to family members rather than academic advisors or faculty when deciding to leave, and many make that choice entirely on their own, according to a new report from the Community College Research Center.
The study, which draws on survey and interview data collected from students who stopped out during the fall 2022 term at four Hispanic Serving Institutions in California, paints a portrait of students navigating some of the most consequential decisions of their academic lives with minimal guidance from the institutions that enroll them.
Emelyn A. dela Peña isn't one to shy away from a challenge.
She’s taking over the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education at a time when its members are under fire. Recently, many campuses renamed or shut down diversity, equity, and inclusion offices; pared down supports for students and faculty of color; and laid off diversity officers in response to rapid-fire state and federal policy shifts. But dela Peña believes her role as NADOHE’s new president and CEO is happening at exactly the right time.
When Congress passed the fiscal year 2026 budget for the U.S. Department of Education earlier this month, many critics of the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the agency had hoped the appropriation would ban the outsourcing of certain education programs to other federal agencies.
It did not. Now, the seemingly mixed messaging from Congress is bringing some confusion into the already unfamiliar territory of moving numerous core programs out of the Education Department.
When Congress inserted the phrase "high-skill, high-wage, or in-demand industry sectors or occupations" in the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins) in 2018, the result was mostly inconsequential for the program.
Now, however, that phrase has become high-stakes in another federal program, Workforce Pell, because lawmakers cross-referenced it as the standard states can use to approve programs for the new funding. How states interpret the provision could affect how hundreds of millions of dollars in federal student aid are distributed to short-term workforce development programs when Workforce Pell launches later this year.
One of the most influential critiques of academe today is the leftward lean of faculty. In the White House and in statehouses, conservative efforts to foster viewpoint diversity cite that imbalance. In some cases, lawmakers have pushed campuses to establish civic-thought schools staffed by more conservative scholars.
But just how severe is the disparity? A new report by Heterodox Academy digs into the murky data that has helped influence conservative reform of the sector.
When the Department of Government Efficiency made cuts to the National Center for Education Statistics, the changes were drastic. Did the NCES need to improve? Absolutely. But it was functioning effectively when DOGE reduced its staff from nearly 100 to three and terminated almost three-quarters of its contracts.
Although NCES might never return to what it once was, this moment creates an opportunity to rebuild it thoughtfully. It’s a vital federal agency that supports a central pillar of the country’s strength: educating and training people.
.jpg?upscale=true&width=500&upscale=true&name=istockphoto-2187460658-612x612%20(1).jpg)
