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.
Today's colleges and universities, both public and private, currently face enormous challenges, including state and federal funding cuts, fewer international students, and a sharp decline in the number of college-aged students. These pressures are pushing many smaller schools to close their doors or merge with larger institutions. At the same time, prospective students and their families are questioning the value of a college degree, especially as tuition continues to climb.
In this interview, journalist and author Jeff Selingo joins Tom Foley, president of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania, to discuss what the future may hold for America’s colleges and universities.
Thanks to a slew of federal lawsuits filed by Republicans against Republicans, two states have now ended their policies allowing undocumented students to receive in-state tuition, and a grant program for Hispanic-Serving Institutions appears to be in jeopardy.
The lawsuits, all introduced over the last three months, have left advocates alarmed and scrambling to intervene in the litigation. They also outline a new maneuver in the playbook for GOP attorneys general and the Trump administration—suing each other to force policy changes that otherwise would require Congress or state legislatures to act.
Harvard University won a crucial legal victory in its clash with the Trump administration on Wednesday, when a federal judge said that the government had broken the law by freezing billions of dollars in research funds in the name of stamping out antisemitism.
The ruling may not be the final word on the matter, but the decision by Judge Allison D. Burroughs of the U.S. District Court in Boston is, at the very least, an interim rebuff of the Trump administration’s campaign to remake elite higher education by force.
Regan A.R. Gurung has long been fascinated by the concept of perceived social support. The idea is that when people feel assured that help is available if needed—whether or not it is ever requested or received—it allows them to show up, try, and keep going.
Gurung, a professor of psychology at Oregon State University, has made perceived social support central to his teaching. It’s especially important in the kinds of large-enrollment courses—as many as 400 students—that Gurung specializes in, where students are often physically and relationally distant from the professor.
Preston Thorpe is only 32, but he says he's already landed his dream job as a senior software engineer and bought a modest house with his six-figure salary. He achieved this by working long days from his cell at the Mountain View Correctional Center in Charleston.
Thorpe's circumstances changed in 2019 when he got transferred from the New Hampshire prison system to Maine, where he discovered laptops with limited internet access were available for education. And about two years ago, he became one of the first incarcerated people in the country to get hired for a remote job.
Balancing coursework with parenting, battling childcare gaps, navigating financial hardship, and managing rigid academic schedules often creates overwhelming barriers to success for single mothers in college. But their determination to build a better life for themselves and their families is nothing short of inspiring.
This episode of Working Forward examines the systemic obstacles that many student parents encounter as they work toward earning a degree. The discussion highlights how higher education can either reinforce inequality or serve as a transformative pathway to opportunity.
