Lumina Foundation is committed to increasing the proportion of Americans with high-quality degrees, certificates and other credentials to 60 percent by 2025.
As Donald J. Trump returns to the White House—with a GOP Congress behind him, a vice president who has referred to universities as “the enemy,” and a WWE powerhouse tapped as his education secretary—it’s fair to say that the only certainty for U.S. higher education is uncertainty.
In this interview, some of academia’s sharpest minds share their highest hope—and biggest worry—for the sector during the next four years. Their responses may surprise you.
The United States now has a new president: Donald J. Trump. But in his final week in office, Joe Biden capped a tumultuous effort to deliver widespread student loan forgiveness by canceling another $600 million in education debt for longtime borrowers and those defrauded by their colleges.
Biden’s final round of student debt relief brought a total of $189 billion in loan cancellation for 5.3 million borrowers—more than any other president. Yet higher education experts are split on whether his mission to ease the debt burden for millions of Americans did more harm than good.
Jay Hartzell’s academic credentials are impeccable: A doctorate in finance and stints as a tenure-track professor, associate dean, dean, and even interim president. But in deep-red Texas, there’s another qualification for public-college presidents: the ability to manage immense scrutiny from conservative politicians.
That’s why Hartzell’s recent announcement he would be leaving the state’s flagship public university—the University of Texas at Austin—to head 200 miles north to the smaller, and private, Southern Methodist University was at first greeted with surprise, followed quickly by knowing nods.
Where will artificial intelligence be in 2030? Will it live up to the hype—boosting economies, creating breakthrough medical treatments, simplifying everyday life, and increasing our knowledge? Or are such forecasts overly optimistic: Will it fizzle out or change the world for the worse? What about concerns that AI will eliminate millions of jobs, replace human relationships, and challenge society with an onslaught of fake media?
Experts from higher education, business, and think tanks weigh in with their thoughts. Be warned: They don't all agree.
For foster kids, self-sufficiency is often an unspoken requirement for survival. But it also means that big plans, like earning a degree, can easily get derailed. That almost happened to Alexandria Davis until she applied for emergency funding through her school, Brightpoint Community College. That's when she learned about a program in Virginia specifically for students like her.
The effort is called Great Expectations, and it's designed to help people who have experienced foster care get their two-year degrees. And unlike many programs for former foster youth, there are no age limits.
Almost 14 years ago, Jose Antonio Vargas risked the life he had built for himself in the United States by coming out publicly as an undocumented immigrant.
In this essay, the activist and author of "Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen" and host of a YouTube show called “Define American” puts a human face on one of today's most defining and polarizing issues: immigration.
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