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.
As institutions nationwide struggle to meet growing mental health needs, more students are turning to artificial intelligence for comfort, connection, and advice. Now, colleges and universities are being forced to confront a question that once seemed unthinkable: What happens when students begin opening up to AI chatbots instead of people?
Alison Lee, who leads an organization focused on fostering meaningful human connection in the age of AI, discusses why students are increasingly turning to technology to cope with their feelings and experiences, what higher ed leaders still may not understand about that shift, and whether AI is filling critical gaps in emotional support or deepening isolation on college campuses.
For decades, the message to high school seniors has been the same: If you want to go to college, you have to prove you belong. Find the right schools. Build a list. Write the essays. Pay the application fees. Wait by the mailbox.
That model is now shifting—and quickly. In an era when many people continue to question the value of a degree, it is incumbent upon colleges to flip the script. More states and institutions are reimagining the college admissions process so that colleges show students they belong—and show them how higher education will propel them toward the future of their choosing.
The documented benefits of apprenticeship programs for young people include career insights, enhanced professional networks, real-world skills, and paid learning that increases competitiveness. But what about everyone else in the room?
When a young person enters a company, some of the most significant transformations may not be their own. New research from New America examines some of the indirect benefits of youth-serving apprenticeship programs, including employee engagement, improved organizational culture, and development of managers.
Across the country, students who cannot afford to leave their jobs, their families, or their communities to chase a four-year degree are confronting an access gap that has long gone unaddressed.
Now, a quiet but accelerating policy movement—the expansion of community college baccalaureate programs—is being viewed by growing numbers of educators and lawmakers as a practical answer to an increasingly urgent challenge. And with the federal financial aid landscape shifting in ways that threaten to widen the affordability divide, advocates say the timing could not be more critical.
Last spring, leaders at California’s community colleges witnessed unprecedented reports of fraud, with scammers stealing millions more dollars of student aid than in any previous period.
That may be changing. Today, scammers are less likely to bypass colleges' vetting systems, and school administrators say they’re better, though still not perfect, at detecting and preventing fraud.
Even as colleges across the country make bold pronouncements about forging into the future of artificial intelligence, many employees are raising fundamental questions about what generative AI could mean for their work: Could it be used to replace workers or to evaluate their productivity? Could faculty members be required to use AI against their will? Could they be held liable if they mistakenly accuse students of cheating with AI?
Academic unions are working to get administrators to answer questions like these, including building in contractual protections during collective bargaining. So far, they’ve had mixed success.
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