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.
Year one of Trump 2.0 brought a flurry of policy changes as the federal government sought to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion practices; restrict the flow of research funding to institutions accused of not adequately addressing antisemitism; overhaul student financial aid; and shock the college accreditation system, among other policy goals.
But Trump-related policy whiplash is just one of many challenges leaders are juggling. New research shows that college presidents are also navigating a volatile mix of political pressure, financial uncertainty, and rapid technological advancement as artificial intelligence use continues to expand in and outside the classroom—a change some leaders are embracing despite outstanding concerns.
Between the Louisiana State University System, the University of Louisiana System, and the Southern University System, students have 18 public schools—and 12 more within the Louisiana Community and Technical Colleges System—to choose from when considering where to earn a degree in the Bayou State.
Some Louisiana officials and higher education leaders say it’s time to reevaluate: Are there simply too many colleges, at least in their current form, for a state of approximately 4.6 million people? The question becomes all the more striking as some of those schools struggle with enrollment stagnation and decline, as well as budget challenges.
California is falling short of its college completion goals, and a new report says the state must act urgently to close the gap.
The report, by Complete College America and the Campaign for College Opportunity, documents a 14-percentage-point gap between California's current postsecondary attainment rate and the 70 percent benchmark Gov. Gavin Newsom set in the FY 2023 state budget—a target the state has pledged to reach by 2030. Closing that gap will require producing more than 1.3 million additional college-educated adults in the next five years.
Brandon Dyer owes his career in higher education to the federal TRIO program, which is designed to help low-income students, first-generation college students, and individuals with disabilities progress through the academic pipeline, from middle school to and through college.
Today, Dyer serves as vice president for strategic enrollment and student success at Everett Community College in Washington. This past summer, the institution learned that its TRIO funding would not be renewed, depriving the college of $1.3 million over the next five years to increase retention and graduation rates for vulnerable student populations. The abrupt loss of millions of dollars in federal funding is forcing leaders like Dyer to pivot rapidly.
It was a move that stunned many in the world of education research. Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency rapidly decimated the sleepy, wonky, somewhat obscure research arm of the U.S. Department of Education, causing the Institute of Education Sciences to experience the cancellation of numerous research contracts and the layoff of most of its staff.
In the year since the DOGE decimation, parts of the IES have been restored, and recently the administration released a report with recommendations on “reimagining” its work. In this Q&A, author Amber Northern discusses the future of the IES.
Collaboration is not a novel concept for colleges. They share research grants and library collections. They’re part of professional associations and athletic conferences. But historically, they’ve always competed when it comes to a core piece of their business: enrollment.
That may be shifting. Today's institutions are running out of new funnels for students—especially traditional-age learners—and many are simultaneously facing shrinking government funding and tighter budgets. Riding out the storm alone, they’re realizing, could be catastrophic.
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