Lumina Foundation is committed to increasing the proportion of Americans with high-quality degrees, certificates and other credentials to 60 percent by 2025.
As the new year unfolds, anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion bills and executive orders continue to sweep the country. Meanwhile, DEI professionals are bearing the brunt of this legislative onslaught as their colleges struggle to respond. Some have lost their jobs, while others are continuing the work under chillier conditions, new titles, or the auspices of different offices.
In this interview, Kaleb Briscoe Brown of the University of California National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement discusses the challenges facing today's DEI advocates and how they’re navigating this politically volatile time.
Earning a college degree can be the gateway to a brighter future with greater earning potential, improved career options, and a strong sense of well-being for graduates. These benefits don’t just impact graduates—they ripple through families and communities and strengthen society as a whole.
But while many students are better off after their college experience, outcomes can vary widely. That’s why federal and state policymakers, along with institutional leaders, must consider how policies and funding can increase college value by supporting affordability and completion, writes Diane Cheng of the Institute for Higher Education Policy in this op-ed.
It’s easy to make a quick list of the challenges facing universities and colleges in Utah and beyond: Student debt. Campus culture wars. Budget cuts and reallocations. Tuition hikes. Workplace readiness.
However, there's another issue that often goes unnoticed in discussions and headlines about higher education: More men are choosing not to attend college at all.
Paid apprenticeships are growing, moving from the skilled trades and construction to more diverse, in-demand industries like nursing and accounting. Yet despite this progress, the United States continues to lag behind other countries in the number of people in apprenticeships.
John Colborn, executive director of Apprenticeships for America, explains why apprenticeships are becoming more valuable and how community colleges play an important role in connecting employers to this undeveloped talent.
Most people in higher education today will agree that student cheating is on the rise—so much so that it’s become a serious challenge for professors. Experts say ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence tools have increased incidents of cheating, leaving educators struggling to keep up as they try to convince students that relying on AI to do their work will hurt them in the long run.
But is the battle for academic integrity already lost?
When Massachusetts announced plans to offer free community college to any resident without a four-year degree, no one was more excited than Eric Quaidoo. Quaidoo came to western Massachusetts from Ghana as a young boy. Today, he’s studying nursing at Berkshire Community College while working 32 hours a week to help support his family.
For many students like Quaidoo, the MassEducate program is life-changing. And while the effort is providing opportunities for thousands of students to pursue higher education, it's also posing new challenges for the state's community colleges.
