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.
With growing skepticism and doubt about the value of a traditional college degree, many Americans are opting for short-term credentials that offer a quicker route to economic opportunity. But with more than a million certificate programs out there, how can students (or employers, for that matter) know which ones actually lead to better jobs and bigger paychecks?
The answer: They can’t—at least, not easily. That’s why Lumina Foundation is launching FutureReady States, an ambitious initiative to help states identify which credentials deliver real value and which fall short.
Research shows that adults often enter college with a specific goal in mind, such as a career pivot, additional education in their current industry, or completion of a degree they previously started. But returning to the classroom can be challenging, particularly for first-generation students or those who haven’t been in school for a while.
In this interview, Brett Bruner of Wichita State University discusses a newly launched college bridge program designed to ease the transition to and through college for adult and online learners.
Stephen Wells was trained by the Air Force to work on F-16 fighter jets, including critical radar, navigation, and weapons systems whose proper functioning meant life or death for pilots. Yet when he left the service and tried to apply that expertise toward an education at Pittsburgh’s Community College of Allegheny County, he was given just three credits toward a required class in physical education.
Wells moved forward anyway, going on to get his bachelor’s and doctoral degrees. Now he’s CCAC’s provost and involved in a citywide project to help other people transform their military and work experience into academic credit, saving them both time and money.
When Joe Cedillo and Richard Nelson stepped out of the gates of Muskegon Correctional Facility in Michigan after a combined 63 years of incarceration, their freedom served as an inspiration to their fellow students in the joint bachelor’s program that Hope College and Western Theological Seminary offer at the prison.
What moved these students most wasn’t just seeing their classmates walking through the gates—it was witnessing, in photographs, college faculty and staff waiting in the parking lot to welcome them home. Alvin Smith, who is among last month’s graduates, worked with his fellow students to put together this collection of reflections on that transformative moment.
Since the passage last week of President Donald Trump’s domestic agenda, the U.S. Department of Education now has less than a year to carry out what policy analysts are calling the most significant overhaul to federal student aid in more than a decade, raising questions about whether the agency can pull it off.
Any education secretary would be hard-pressed to ensure a smooth transition in such a short time frame, but experts in higher education believe Linda McMahon will find it nearly impossible after cutting the department's staff by almost 50 percent earlier this year.
Eastern Michigan University has launched an ad campaign to lure Ohio students with messages that promise “all are welcome” and students will be given “freedom to grow” at a school that “honors all voices.”
Ohio's Senate Bill 1, which aimed to control professors at public colleges and universities, is the target of the ads. SB 1 also bans diversity, equity, and inclusion, among dozens of other requirements.
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