Top Higher Education News for Monday
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.

March 10, 2025

Subscribe to this email

TOP STORIES

download - 2025-03-07T164348.107

Dismantling DEI on Campus Is Messy. Here’s How It Looks at One University.

Ira Porter, The Christian Science Monitor

SHARE:  Facebook • LinkedIn

For Amanda Garcia, the memories are still fresh. An alum of the University of Texas at Austin, she recalls how her campus changed after a state law dismantled diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Many students felt like they were no longer wanted or welcomed.

 

The Trump administration has made ridding U.S. college campuses of diversity, equity, and inclusion a top priority. What can be learned from a university in Texas, where a state DEI ban is already in place?

istockphoto-1443302239-612x612

The Future of Apprenticeships Under Trump

Sara Weissman, Inside Higher Ed

SHARE:  Facebook • LinkedIn

Advocates for apprenticeship programs came into a second Trump administration with a rosy outlook on their future. Historically, these on-the-job training programs have enjoyed bipartisan support, and apprenticeships featured prominently in Project 2025, the conservative policy blueprint put forth by the Heritage Foundation. The plan encourages the expansion of apprenticeships, lauding the programs as a meaningful alternative to “the woke-dominated system of public schools and universities.”

 

But now, apprenticeship proponents are divided on how hopeful to feel.

istockphoto-2148332608-612x612

Scott Carlson and Ned Laff on 'Hacking College'

Julian Alssid and Kaitlin LeMoine, Work Forces

SHARE:  Facebook • LinkedIn

Scott Carlson and Ned Scott Laff know a thing or two about higher education trends. Carlson is a veteran education reporter, while Laff has more than 35 years of experience in college and university settings. They're also the authors of Hacking College, a new book that contends many students unknowingly move through college with empty degrees that fail to connect to the life that comes after graduation.

 

On this episode of Work Forces, Carlson and Laff offer insight on crafting a college experience that intentionally links student learning to future work and career success.

download - 2025-03-07T130850.403

Delinquency Rates Soar as Borrowers Slow to Repay Student Loans

Danielle Douglas-Gabriel, The Washington Post

SHARE:  Facebook • LinkedIn

According to the U.S. Department of Education, one in five people who should be paying their federal student loans are more than 90 days overdue, nearly double the rate of delinquent borrowers since the pandemic started and the government paused payments.

 

Delinquencies are soaring as Republicans fight in court to end efforts that make student loan payments more affordable and loans easier to forgive. The ongoing legal battle has shut borrowers out of federal plans designed to help them manage their debt and stay out of default.

istockphoto-2202174381-612x612

Florida’s Universities Find Themselves in the DOGE House

Andrew Atterbury, POLITICO

SHARE:  Facebook • LinkedIn

State lawmakers have Florida’s public universities in their sights as they—and Gov. Ron DeSantis—look to scale back spending with their own DOGE-style efforts.

 

The move comes as the GOP-led Legislature and DeSantis call for a thorough sweep of university budgets to find potential savings, leaving state funding at risk while campuses simultaneously brace for federal research cuts by the Trump administration.

istockphoto-1821262767-612x612

Trends We’re Watching: Trump Edition

Brock Read, The Chronicle of Higher Education

SHARE:  Facebook • LinkedIn

If higher education is struggling to look ahead in 2025, it’s not difficult to understand why: Ascertaining what’s happening in the here and now is a full-time job. In less than two months in office, President Trump’s administration has unleashed a blizzard of executive orders, government cutbacks, and other pronouncements that have cast many of the sector’s basic operating principles into doubt.

 

What signals should colleges be tuning in to amid all the noise? Here are six trends to monitor closely.

HUMAN WORK AND LEARNING

Report: Want to Pocket More Cash—and Stay Healthy and Happy? Earn a College Degree

Jason Swensen, Deseret News

Who Needs College Anymore? Creating the Experience First College

Bruno Manno, Forbes

Local Colleges Launch AI-Focused Degree Programs

Raymond Baccari and Erica Ricci, WPRI

EQUITY IN EDUCATION

From Scholarships to Housing, College Students Struggle With the Effects of Trump Orders Against DEI

Andy Rose and Maria Aguilar Prieto, CNN

Florida Tech Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Page Down Following Trump Executive Order

Finch Walker, Florida Today

The Slow But Steady Rise of Women in Higher Education Leadership

Jamaal Abdul-Alim, Diverse Issues in Higher Education

Views: Anti-DEI Rhetoric Does Not Equal Legal Reality

Dan Currell, Inside Higher Ed

COLLEGE AFFORDABILITY

List of Student Loan, Aid Programs at Risk If Education Department Cut

Ashley Parks, Newsweek

Students See More Financial Aid From Iowa Universities, State as Federal Aid Drops

Brooklyn Daisy, Iowa Capital Dispatch

As Trump Goes After Education Department, Staff Cuts Leave Student Loan Borrowers in the Dark

Annie Nova, CNBC

Editorial: To Keep More College Students in State, Illinois Must Keep Tuition Affordable

Chicago Tribune

STATE POLICY

University Presidents ‘Very Excited’ About Parts of Controversial Ohio Higher Ed Bill, Says Republican Lawmaker Behind It

Amy Morona, Signal Cleveland

Idaho Committee Introduces Bill to Collect Immigration Status of Students in Public Schools

Mia Maldonado, Idaho Capital Sun

Texas Bill Seeks to Increase Power of Government Over Universities

Gregorio Olivares Gutierrez, Dallas Observer

NEW PODCASTS

More Policy Shifts, More Uncertainty for Colleges

dotEDU

Is This the End of DEI?

Office Hours With EAB

Sports Betting Goes to College

College Matters

The Hidden Enrollment Market in Workforce Education

Changing Higher Ed

Live From SXSW EDU 2025: AI, Talent Gaps, and the Urgency of Higher Ed Innovation With Bridget Burns

The Higher Ed Geek

You Can Prepare for Resistance

After Further Consideration

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

Facebook
Instagram
LinkedIn