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.
Giving all students clear information up-front on the cost of college should they get admitted and enroll isn't as straightforward as it sounds. In part, that’s because at many colleges, the administration itself doesn’t know the answer to that question until, at minimum, it sees who actually applies for admission.
Brandeis University is now changing that practice. It just launched a new, artificial intelligence-powered tool called Faye that will calculate the precise price a student pays based on their personal academic and financial information once they apply and become accepted to Brandeis. The tool is designed to be simple—but the work behind it is quite complex.
Gov. Abigail Spanberger recently signed off on a measure that will require Virginia's public colleges and universities to ask students whether they are also parents, joining a handful of states that have similar mandates.
Students won't be required to tell colleges they're parents. They will instead have the option to self-report the information, with the idea that it can help colleges better serve them. Destiny LeVere Bolling (D–Henrico) introduced the legislation, saying parenting students often struggle to access higher education and lack the resources they need from colleges to complete their studies.
For decades, international students hoping to stay in the United States after graduation faced relatively few barriers. Temporary employment programs designed to attract skilled talent made it effortless to transition from studying to working. And employers were eager to hire these students, especially those with STEM degrees.
But that once-open road to a job in the United States is now full of hurdles, with students saying they have been passed over for jobs and interviews because of visa restrictions. Some have a backup plan: they will leave the United States.
California State University campuses may soon allow students to earn bachelor’s degrees in as little as three years, creating more agile learning pathways and addressing California’s workforce needs.
The new shortened degrees don’t replace the existing four-year bachelor’s in the arts and sciences but will instead widen the offerings campuses can provide. The changes are also designed to compete with for-profit and online colleges that offer quicker degree programs but are generally far pricier than what Cal State charges.
As economic, demographic, political, and technological forces reshape higher education, college presidents are experimenting with various programs, processes, and alternative learning pathways, including those that blur the traditional boundaries between institution types and between college and work.
For instance, recent research shows that virtually all presidents and their institutions are evolving their education models in some way. Some are adding or expanding short-term credentials aligned with employer needs; others are exploring structured microcredential programs, apprenticeships, cooperative and other work-integrated learning, and three-year bachelor’s degrees.
Throughout the Chicago area, employer‑driven training and apprenticeships are reshaping how people get hired, how students choose education and career paths, and how companies ensure they have the workforce they need now and tomorrow. Other initiatives help Chicagoans graduate college debt-free, which boosts their lifetime earnings potential.
The City Colleges of Chicago system is an instrumental part of this work, with the public community college system setting an example for how to align education, workforce, and community impact.
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