Top Higher Education News for Thursday
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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.

September 18, 2025

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Not a Memoir, But a Manual: Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum on Leading Higher Education From Challenges to Joys

Rose Scott, Closer Look

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It’s a challenging moment for colleges and universities, as political mandates continue to target diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and debates over free speech and campus protests intensify. Faced with this new higher education landscape, what can higher leaders do to guide their campuses with both confidence and clarity?

 

Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum has been thinking about that question for a long time. Tatum, a scholar, author, and national voice on race and education, shares what she calls an insider’s guide to leadership in higher education in this interview.

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Hispanic-Serving Institutions Must Be Defended

Joseph Morales, The Chronicle Review

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Race and higher education policy have always been entwined, from Jim Crow-era exclusion to the creation of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and from the rise of tribal colleges to today’s Hispanic-Serving Institutions. What changes is whether the government chooses to widen doors or close them.

 

A recent decision by the U.S. Department of Justice not to defend the federal statute that defines Hispanic-Serving Institutions—followed by the U.S. Department of Education’s move to halt discretionary funding for several minority-serving-institution grant programs—isn’t just another policy fight. It’s an attempt to change what fairness means in higher education, contends Joseph Morales, a diversity officer at California State University at Chico, in this essay.

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To Attend a College Aligned With Their Politics, Students Would Pay Higher Price

Johanna Alonso, Inside Higher Ed

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College students are willing to pay more than an additional $2,000 in tuition to attend a college where fewer students hold political beliefs that oppose their own, according to a new working paper analyzing how students’ political views impact college choice.

 

The study comes at a time when concerns about political polarization and Americans’ declining ability and willingness to engage in civil discourse—especially on college campuses—are particularly high.

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Opportunity, Access & Uplift: The Evolving Legacy of HBCUs

Brandis Griffith-Friedman, Public Broadcasting Service

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A new documentary, Opportunity, Access & Uplift: The Evolving Legacy of HBCUs, is now airing nationwide on more than 300 PBS member stations and online throughout the country.

 

The documentary examines the experiences of students at the nation's Historically Black Colleges and Universities and their reasons for choosing their HBCU. Michael Lomax, president and CEO of UNCF, and Felecia Commodore of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign provide context on the history of HBCUs, the funding challenges they face, and the changing landscape of enrollment.

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Tracking Trump's Crackdown on Higher Education

Cecelia Smith-Schoenwalder, U.S. News & World Report

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As president, Donald Trump has leveraged the power of the federal government to threaten funding and restrict foreign student status, demanding an unprecedented role in university admissions, curriculum, and operations. In many instances, Trump’s efforts involve curbing what he calls a “woke” agenda, with his steps aimed at reversing diversity, equity, and inclusion policies that he says unfairly benefit some students over others.

 

Here's a look at the key areas of Trump’s agenda and some of the noteworthy moves he has made when it comes to higher education.

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Professors Think Students Are Prepared for the Workforce—Nearly Half of Students Disagree and Feel Unready Even for Entry-Level Roles in Their Field

Jessica Coacci, Fortune

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While it may be assumed that recent college graduates aren’t ready to take on the AI-burdened job market, the ones prepping them for the workforce feel otherwise. Nearly nine in 10 educators believe their students are prepared to enter the workforce, but students disagree, according to this report from Cengage Group.

 

The findings come as employers are hiring fewer entry-level workers and reporting frustration with recent grads’ lack of workplace readiness. Students, meanwhile, blame inadequate career prep, limited internships, and poor real-world exposure during college.

HUMAN WORK AND LEARNING

Connecting Digital ID Wallets, Skills Passports & LERS: Can We? Should We?

Holly Zanville, The EvoLLLution

Spreading Climate Science Across the Curriculum

Ed Finkel, Community College Daily

'Space Vandenberg' Launches New Era of Student Opportunity, Workforce Growth

April Chavez, Lompoc Record

How North Carolina University Computer Science Programs Are Adapting to an AI World

Kate Denning, Carolina Public Press

EQUITY IN EDUCATION

Socioeconomic Differences Among High Schools Drive Gap in College Outcomes

Sara Weissman, Inside Higher Ed

What Changes Did UNC System Campuses Make in Second Year of Anti-DEI Policy?

Korie Dean, The News & Observer

UC Merced Students Protest Layoffs, ‘Reconstruction’ at Campus DEI Centers

Rachel Livinal, KVPR

Bridging the Gap: How Programs Help First-Generation Students Succeed

Jen Lynds, Bangor Daily News

COLLEGE AFFORDABILITY

Lawmakers Discuss Solutions for College Pricing Transparency

Maria Carrasco, National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

Leaders Sound Alarm on Cuts to New Mass. Free Community College Program

Juliet Schulman-Hall, MassLive

How Is New Mexico Paying College Tuition for 55K Students?

Gabrielle Burkhart and Chris McKee, KRQE

Student Housing Affordability

Sami Sparber, Axios Austin

FEDERAL POLICY

FY26 Budget: What’s at Stake for Students, Schools, and Higher Education

The Education Trust

Federal Research Funding Canceled in Iowa Includes Medical, Student-Driven Studies

Brooklyn Draisey, Iowa Capital Dispatch

It's Not Just UCLA. UC President Warns of Trump Push Into All Campuses and Hospitals

Jaweed Kaleem, Los Angeles Times

The Trump Administration Has Frozen Funding That Helps Low-Income and Rural Students Get to College

Sarah Asch, Texas Standard

NEW REPORTS AND EVENTS

High School Benchmarks

National Student Clearinghouse Research Center

Webinar: Trump and Higher Ed: Understanding the Latest

The Chronicle of Higher Education

Reaching Higher: Expanding Access to College Education in New Jersey

The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice

High School and Beyond: Tracking the Life Outcomes of Fort Worth Students

Fort Worth Education Partnership

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Daily Lumina News is edited by Patricia Brennan.

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