Top Higher Education News for Tuesday
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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 11, 2025

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Chaos on Campuses as Schools Warn Trump Cuts Could Harm US ‘for Decades’

Michael Sainato, The Guardian

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Students, researchers, faculty, and leadership at universities and colleges across the United States are grappling with drastic short- and long-term impacts “for decades to come” caused by funding freezes, cuts, and executive orders from the Trump administration.

 

The changes and threats have incited hiring freezes, layoffs and furloughs, cuts in graduate admissions, cancellations of job offers, and institutions scaling back the amount of research they conduct.

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As North Carolina's Teacher Pipeline Dwindles, Education Colleges Are Getting Creative

Emily Walkenhorst, WRAL

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The number of people enrolling in educator preparation programs in North Carolina has been falling for years. Now the number of people completing the programs is plummeting—a troubling sign for a state that struggles to hire and retain public school teachers.

 

Public and private four-year colleges largely house educator preparation programs. The drop in people completing the programs underscores ongoing challenges to the teaching profession in a state that is increasingly having to fill its ranks by recruiting educators from other states, countries, and even professions.

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The Online Overhaul

Taylor Swaak, The Chronicle of Higher Education

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Ideas about online learning have changed dramatically in recent years. Virtual courses used to be the exception in higher education. Now, they’re an expectation. As of the fall of 2023, 54.3 percent of college students were taking at least one online course, according to an analysis of the latest U.S. Department of Education data.

 

Put another way: Without the 2020 upheaval of COVID-19, colleges likely wouldn’t have reached that level of online enrollment until around 2030.

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Trump Order Could Overhaul PSLF Program

Jessica Blake, Inside Higher Ed

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In his latest executive action, President Donald Trump directed the U.S. Department of Education to limit eligibility for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

 

The order, issued late last week, would require the Education Department to go through a complex and lengthy process known as negotiated rulemaking, so the directive doesn’t change anything immediately. However, the changes could lead to the denial of student loan forgiveness for literally thousands of nonprofit employees involved in activist work opposed by the president.

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Can Trump Eliminate the Education Department? Here's What the Constitution Says.

Maureen Groppe and Zachary Schermele, USA Today

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Teachers, parents, and students may be wondering what might change on college and K-12 campuses amid the bluster from the Trump administration about shuttering the U.S. Department of Education. Already, the president's broader, rapid-fire agenda has disrupted major segments of the American education system.

 

So can the president, technically, shutter the agency? Here’s where things stand.

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Student-Led Initiative Seeks to Reduce Food Insecurity at UW-Eau Claire

Courtney Everett, WPR

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In her second year at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Kristen O’Brien observed a behind-the-scenes challenge facing students: food insecurity. About 47 percent of the school's more than 8,700 enrolled students have some level of food insecurity, according to the university’s 2024 spring survey.

 

Now, as a third-year student, O’Brien is piloting a food recovery program that repackages leftovers to give students access to free and nutritious meals.

HUMAN WORK AND LEARNING

Career Assistance for Displaced Federal Workers

Laura Aka, WorkingNation

As Skills-Based Hiring Grows, LinkedIn Has Yet to Find Its Place

Lauren Coffey, Work Shift

Why America Has a Shortage of Air Traffic Controllers

Ryan Craig, Forbes

Travis Early College High School Shortens Teaching Pathway. Is It a Solution to Teacher Shortages?

Xochilt Garcia, San Antonio Report

The On-Ramps and Off-Ramps of Education

Ailsa Craig, The EvoLLLution

EQUITY IN EDUCATION

Higher Ed Leaders Rally to Protect DEI Initiatives

Jamal Watson, Diverse Issues in Higher Education

'They Need Our Voices at the Table': Iowa Legislative Black Caucus Fights to Protect DEI Programs

Amanda Rooker, KCCI

How the SAT Became a Darling of the Anti-DEI Crowd

Liam Knox, Inside Higher Ed

Views: Erasing Opportunity: How Trump’s Education Policies Harm Black College Students

Iyana Moore, EdTrust

PRISON EDUCATION

Math Can Be a Path to Success After Prison

Sabina Wex, The Hechinger Report

Newly Passed Bill Aims to Improve Education System in State Prisons

Cameron Thompson, WTVR

FEDERAL POLICY

Obama-Era Education Secretary Warns Trump Against Shuttering Department

Steff Danielle Thomas, The Hill

What Will Happen to Student Loans If the Department of Education Is Closed Down?

Rebecca Schneid, TIME

'Enough Is Enough': Scientists From UCLA, USC Protest Trump's Policy Changes

Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times

NEW REPORTS AND EVENTS

Cut Short: The Broken Promises of Cosmetology Education

New America

What do Republican Voters Want on
Higher Education?

Third Way

Estimates of the Effects of Loan Limits for Master’s Degree Programs

Urban Institute

Virtual Forum: The Evolving Campus Workplace

The Chronicle of Higher Education

College Prices Are Falling for Everyone (Almost)

Brookings Institution

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Daily Lumina News is edited by Patricia Brennan.

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