Top Higher Education News for Wednesday
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 12, 2025

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Education Department to Cut Roughly Half Its Workforce

Kelly O'Donnell, Tyler Kingkade, and Adam Edelman, NBC News

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The U.S. Department of Education on Tuesday announced a drastic reduction in its workforce, saying it's set to cut about half of its staff.

 

The layoffs are the latest in a series of mass firings across the government as part of an Elon Musk-led effort to quickly reduce the federal footprint. The terminations at the Education Department also serve as a prelude to President Donald Trump’s plan to shut down the cabinet-level agency and raise questions about what will happen to enforcement of school civil rights laws and federal education funding.

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Coal Plants Are Closing. For Some Schools, That Means Lost Revenue and Fewer Jobs for Graduates

Neal Morton, The Hechinger Report/High Country News

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Noel Pike was drawn to Colorado's coal belt after graduating from high school last spring. But days before starting his first shift at Craig Station, Pike injured his wrist during a workout and never started the job, complicating his plan to earn “good, fast money” at the mines.

 

Now, much like the town of Craig itself, he’s forced to consider what a future looks like without coal as a financial guarantee.

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More Universities Are Choosing to Stay Neutral on the Biggest Issues

Vimal Patel, The New York Times

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Just a few years ago, university statements on the day’s social and political issues abounded. When Russia attacked Ukraine in 2022, Harvard University’s president at the time called it “senseless” and “deplorable” and flew the invaded country’s flag in Harvard Yard. After George Floyd died under the knee of a white police officer, Cornell’s president said she was “sickened.”

 

But over the last year, more schools are making it a policy to stay silent as political pressure mounts against higher education.

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Gen Z Says the Job Market and the High Cost of Education Are Standing in the Way of the American Dream

Ramona Schindelheim, Work in Progress

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Young people born between the late 1990s and the early 2010s fall into the demographic commonly called Generation Z, or Gen Z. Like any generation, they are diverse, coming from different economic, social, geographical, and cultural backgrounds.

 

In this interview, Yalda Uhls, founder and CEO of the Center for Scholars and Storytellers at UCLA, talks about a new study from her organization that says the American Dream remains desirable but feels out of reach to most Gen Z Americans.

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How Colleges Can Reclaim Enrollment and Thrive

Matt Gandal, Forbes

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Across the country, college hopefuls will soon be checking their inboxes, awaiting important, potentially life-changing news: Have they been accepted to the schools to which they applied?

 

On the other side of those decision emails are college leaders grappling with a different set of anxieties: Will they get the enrollment they need to sustain their institutions?

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Life After HEERF

Dennis Pierce, Community College Daily

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The emergency relief bills passed by Congress during the pandemic collectively provided about $75 billion for U.S. colleges and their students. The legislation brought three waves of funding to community colleges, known as Higher Education Emergency Relief Funding. But now that the deadline for using HEERF dollars has passed, campus leaders find themselves scrambling to secure new funding sources to sustain the initiatives they created or expanded with this money.

 

To succeed, many campus leaders have had to be highly creative.

HUMAN WORK AND LEARNING

Sonny Ramaswamy: Higher Ed Must Be Proactive

Josh Moody, Inside Higher Ed

New Lessons for Improving Community College Transfer to Independent Institutions

Bethany Lewis and Daniel Rossman, Ithaka S+R

Blog: Building Grit, Not Dependence

Steven Mintz, Higher Ed Gamma

EQUITY IN EDUCATION

An ICE Arrest at Columbia U. Stokes Outrage and Raises Legal Questions

Alissa Gary, The Chronicle of Higher Education

ABA Faces DOJ Wrath Over Law School Diversity Requirements

Laura Spitalniak, Higher Ed Dive

Seven Ways to Support Noncitizen Students and Employees

Ashley Mowreader, Inside Higher Ed

Opinion: Trump’s Cuts to Higher Education Are Sacrificing America’s Future

Glenn Altschuler and David Wippman, The Hill

COLLEGE ENROLLMENTS

Lakeland Community College in Kirtland Announces Faculty Layoffs Amid Declining Enrollment

Anna Meyer, WKYC

Local Vocational Schools Are Getting Twice as Many Applicants as They Have Room For

Jesse Collings, Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Point Park Leans Into Arts Education for Growth

Chrissy Suttles, Axios Pittsburgh

South Carolina’s Largest Colleges Celebrate Record Applicants for Fall 2025. Most Aren’t From South Carolina.

Jessica Holdman, South Carolina Daily Gazette

STATE POLICY

Ohio Senate Bill 1 Explained: Analysis From Supporters, Opponents

Karmann Ludwig, WTOL

Poll: Unlike Many Americans, Utahns Are Generally Happy With How Their Colleges Are Doing

Jason Swensen, Deseret News

Higher Education Bill Receives Initial Approval From Arkansas Lawmakers

Antoinette Grajeda, Arkansas Advocate

Opinion: SB 980 Is Unnecessary and Dangerous for Connecticut Higher Education

Isaac Kamola, CT Mirror

NEW REPORTS AND EVENTS

The Rising Tide of Institutional Statement Neutrality: How Universities Are Rethinking Institutional Speech

Heterodox Academy

Virtual Forum: Trends in Admissions

The Chronicle of Higher Education

Labor, Loans, and Leisure: The Impact of the Student Loan Payment Pause

National Bureau of Economic Research

Rebuilding the Force: Solving Policing’s Workforce Emergency

R Street Institute

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

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