Lumina Foundation is committed to increasing the proportion of Americans with high-quality degrees, certificates and other credentials to 60 percent by 2025. |
| Abby Bediako, The Hechinger Report SHARE: Facebook • LinkedIn In the United States, one of every five college undergraduates is caring for a dependent child. Student parents are usually women, at least 30 years old, raising children on their own. A third are Black, and a fifth are Latino. Many will face barriers to completing their degree as they juggle the demands of work, school, and parenting. Abby Bediako knows firsthand the challenges of being a parenting student. In this essay, she describes what can happen when colleges acknowledge and value student parents. |
| Christa Dutton, The Chronicle of Higher Education SHARE: Facebook • LinkedIn The kinds of questions freshmen have to answer at orientation are typically mundane and uncontroversial: “Where are you from?” or “What do you think you’d like to major in?” or “Have you found the dining hall yet?” At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a group of first-year students went past the small talk and swapped opinions on one of the most pressing topics facing higher education today—free speech. |
| Ramona Schindelheim, Work in Progress
SHARE: Facebook • LinkedIn The United States is facing a hiring crunch for skilled workers such as carpenters, electricians, welders, and plumbers. What’s behind the critical demand for talent in the trades? Brooke Weddle of McKinsey & Company and co-author of the report, Tradespeople Wanted: The Need for Critical Trade Skills in the U.S., weighs in on the steps employers can take to address the shortage of skilled trade workers. |
| Ashley Mowreader, Inside Higher Ed SHARE: Facebook • LinkedIn In 2020, college students voted at a record-high rate, falling short of the overall national voting rate by just one percentage point. As the 2024 presidential election approaches this fall, colleges and universities, community organizations, and student advocacy groups are ramping up efforts to boost on-campus civic engagement through voter registration and participation initiatives. |
| Rehema Ellis, NBC News SHARE: Facebook • LinkedIn One of America’s most prestigious universities, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is revealing how its student body has changed after the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated affirmative action from admission decisions. Black and Hispanic students saw the largest drops in admissions, with Black students making up just five percent of this year’s incoming class, compared to 13 percent the previous four years. Students and professors discuss the changes in this interview. |
| Julia Barajas, LAist SHARE: Facebook • LinkedIn The Riverside Community College District is teaming up with the University of California, Riverside, to build a dorm that will provide affordable housing for more than 300 community college students. Beyond addressing housing insecurity issues for students, the partnership will give community college goers an opportunity to meet and mingle with university students. Educators hope those bonds will encourage them to transfer. |
| Joe Schulz, Wisconsin Public Radio |
| Matthew Dembicki, DataPoints |
| Micah Ward, University Business |
| Joshua Kim and Edward J. Maloney, Learning Innovation |
RACIAL JUSTICE AND EQUITY |
| Isaiah Kim-Martinez, WHAS 11 |
| Ania Keenan, San Luis Obispo Tribune |
| Natalie Schwartz, Higher Ed Dive |
| Jim Jump, Inside Higher Ed |
| Michael S. Roth, The New York Times |
| Kathryn Carley, Public News Service (New Hampshire) |
| Johnny Jackson, Diverse Issues in Higher Education |
| Connor Smith, Spectrum News |
| Luis Alonzo Garcia, Elias Lopez, and Kate Hoffman, Lansing State Journal |
| Michael T. Nietzel, Forbes |
| Glenn Minnis, The Center Square |
| Janelle Lopez, WAGM (Maine) |
| Shomial Ahmad, Fort Worth Report |
| Elissa Maudlin, The Daily Journal |
| Center for American Progress |
| Gallup and Walton Family Foundation |
| American Council on Education |
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