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. | Ashley Mowreader, Inside Higher Ed SHARE: Facebook • LinkedIn Adult learners often come to higher education with various skills and experiences that aren’t directly reflected in their academic transcripts. Credit for prior learning is one way colleges and universities can recognize education outside of the classroom and expedite a student’s degree completion. A recent convening held by the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning provided an opportunity for campus leaders from Historically Black Colleges and Universities to share the value of CPL policies, describe how they’ve collaborated with various stakeholders at their institutions, and offer logistical details for making CPL accessible for students and manageable for faculty. | Charlotte West, WBEZ Chicago SHARE: Facebook • LinkedIn For many incarcerated students, a transfer between prisons means disrupted education and even abandoned degrees. But for Ronald Palm, it meant just the opposite: an unprecedented opportunity to attend law school while still behind bars. Palm, who was sentenced to 30 years at the age of 17, now attends Mitchell Hamline School of Law remotely from a prison in Faribault, Minnesota. He is among a small group of incarcerated scholars pursuing law degrees at Mitchell Hamline, which bills itself as the first law school in the country to allow students to study from prison. | Alan Blinder and Stephanie Saul, The New York Times SHARE: Facebook • LinkedIn The world’s wealthiest university is under attack by one of the world’s richest, most powerful men. But the fight between Harvard University and President Donald Trump is also about taking America’s oldest institution of higher education and its billions down several notches. On Monday, the university sued the Trump administration, arguing the government had overstepped. The question now is whether Harvard can handle the blow if its legal effort is unsuccessful. | Kelsey Ables, The Washington Post SHARE: Facebook • LinkedIn After a five-year pause stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Department of Education will resume collections of defaulted federal student loans beginning May 5. U.S. universities are among the most expensive in the world, and about 42.7 million borrowers owe more than $1.6 trillion in student debt, according to the Education Department. Of those, about 5.3 million borrowers are in default—a number that could grow as delinquency rates soar. These same individuals could also see money withheld from tax refunds and Social Security benefits. | Michael T. Nietzel, Forbes SHARE: Facebook • LinkedIn More than 100 university and college presidents, along with leaders of various scholarly organizations, have issued a joint statement about what they call “unprecedented government overreach and political interference now endangering American higher education.” Published on the American Association of Colleges and Universities' website, the statement marks the first time current college presidents have spoken out collectively in large numbers about these issues. The signers come from a wide range of schools, including Ivy League institutions, community colleges, and state colleges, as well as higher education groups. | Tom Hilliard and Michelle Van Noy, Work Shift SHARE: Facebook • LinkedIn State governments have much to gain from learning more about the quality outcomes of nondegree credentials. However, the necessary information remains elusive. This phenomenon is due to the fact that certain credentials are hidden from state higher education agencies and the colleges that prepare students for nondegree credential exams. A new national data trust called CredLens aims to change that. | Walter Hudson, Diverse Issues in Higher Education |
Ramona Schindelheim, WorkingNation | David Tobenkin, Community College Daily | Detris Honora Adelabu, Felicity Crawford, and Linda Banks-Santilli, The Conversation |
Andrew Tobias, Signal Cleveland | Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy, Diverse Issues in Higher Education |
Laura Glesby, New Haven Independent | Vanessa Miller, The Gazette | Tom Crann and Ngoc Bui, MPR News | Johanna Alonso, Inside Higher Ed |
Megan Zahneis, The Chronicle of Higher Education | |