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. | Liam Knox, Inside Higher Ed SHARE: Facebook • LinkedIn Two weeks ago, the U.S. Department of Education laid off half its staff in a historic reduction in force, the first step in the Trump administration’s plans to close down the department and eliminate what officials there call "excessive bloat." Former and current department staffers, however, say the chaotic process has led to technical mishaps, gaps in oversight, and a large-scale loss of institutional knowledge. | Beckie Supiano, The Chronicle of Higher Education SHARE: Facebook • LinkedIn Room 0101 in the College of Sciences Building at the University of Central Florida is a standard-issue lecture hall. The setup makes it easy to surreptitiously text friends or consult ChatGPT, but awkward to work with one another. Even for those sitting near the front, the professor is far away—up on stage, behind a big lectern. In short, everything about the room says that students are there to sit and listen. At a university with more than 59,000 undergraduates and a student-faculty ratio of 28 to 1, what else could they expect? Julie Donnelly, a lecturer in chemistry, thinks they can expect something more. | Jeffrey Brown, PBS NewsHour SHARE: Facebook • LinkedIn Last week, Columbia University agreed to comply with a series of demands from the Trump administration about how it will handle protests, antisemitism, and academic departments. The university faced a deadline to either comply or risk losing $400 million in federal funding. As colleges face continued pressure from the Trump administration, how should they respond? Princeton University President Christopher Eisgruber weighs in with his thoughts about the broader crackdown on higher education. | Zaidee Stavely, Education Beat SHARE: Facebook • LinkedIn Sonoma State University announced a contentious proposal this spring to cut $24 million by eliminating six academic departments entirely and another two dozen degree programs, in addition to cutting all NCAA Division II sports, among other measures. On this podcast, a geology student shares what’s at stake for the field and for students and faculty who are mourning the possible loss of a “home away from home.” | Michael Hansen, Katharine Meyer, Rachel Perera, and Jon Valant, Brookings Institution SHARE: Facebook • LinkedIn On March 20, President Donald Trump signed a long-awaited executive order to “facilitate the closure of the U.S. Department of Education,” fulfilling a campaign promise to shutter an agency that has been targeted by Republicans. The EO directs Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to act aggressively, within the law, to begin the dismantling process. In this piece, scholars from the Brookings Institution reproduce the full text of Trump's executive order and provide commentary with context and analysis. | Ben Wildavsky, Washington Monthly SHARE: Facebook • LinkedIn Kathleen deLaski started her career as a TV correspondent, covering the White House and foreign affairs for ABC News. Then she worked at AOL, as chief Pentagon spokesperson, as a Sallie Mae executive, and as the founder of the influential Education Design Lab. Now she’s out with a new book on how colleges and universities can evolve to meet the needs of today's learners. In this interview, deLaski talks about making higher education not only more accessible but also applicable to Americans’ real lives. | Annie Taylor, The EvoLLLution | Chrystal Blair, Public News Service |
Rick MacLennan, Ventura County Star | Walter Hudson, Diverse Issues in Higher Education | Pavan Acharya, The Texas Tribune | Briana Mendez-Padilla, Higher Ed Dive |
Kevin Hogan, eCampus News | Ashley Mowreader, Inside Higher Ed | Ricardo Morones Torres, The Austin American-Statesman |
Amy DiPierro and John Fensterwald, EdSource | Geoff Bennett, PBS NewsHour | Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond |
Center for American Progress | |