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.
This season's college commencement celebrations come at a sobering moment for many colleges and universities. For generations, higher education offered the possibility of stable employment and a more prosperous life. Today, millions of students are openly questioning that sentiment as they face steep loans and a job market redefined, in part, by artificial intelligence.
In this interview, students and college presidents at two schools in Michigan discuss how they are confronting this new reality.
International enrollments at U.S. colleges were already hurting. Now, a seemingly arcane change to visa rules could be the next blow to the enrollment of foreign students in the United States.
Specifically, the Trump administration wants to impose fixed deadlines for international students to leave the United States. Colleges and universities fear the new regulation could cause havoc at the height of visa season—and discourage students from coming in the first place.
The transition from high school to college is often seen as a significant milestone, representing an academic and personal step forward. Each year, colleges invest heavily in recruitment and enrollment efforts, yet many students struggle during their first year and leave before completing a degree.
While retention conversations often focus on advising, financial aid, and engagement initiatives, student voices point to another important issue: the transition from high school to college is more abrupt, less supported, and more uneven than institutions often assume.
Allison Garcia, 17, is one of thousands of New Jersey children from immigrant families whose school year has been upended because of a surge in ICE detentions and deportations under President Donald Trump.
Students who spoke for this interview say they have missed weeks of classes and are falling behind in school while living in constant fear that their parents will be deported—or that ICE will come for them next. Like Garcia, many of the students say they are changing their college plans and taking on adult responsibilities well beyond what most teenagers usually face.
Last Thursday, as students at the University of Maryland prepared for finals week, many logged onto Canvas expecting to review lecture slides, study materials and assignments. Instead, they found themselves locked out.
Canvas was restored by Friday morning, but the disruption exposed how dependent colleges have become on third-party educational technology platforms—and how quickly students can be left scrambling when those systems fail.
Last year, Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island, became the first institution of higher education in the United States to offer an in-person, three-year bachelor's degree program. The trend, however, is catching on. Similar initiatives have already made their way through North Dakota, Indiana, and Utah. The goal of such programs, education watchers say, is to help students enter the workforce faster and with lighter debt amid soaring tuition.
Yet questions remain over whether accelerated, narrowly focused coursework is preferable to a well-rounded education and how these programs could ultimately affect society.
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