Lumina Foundation is committed to increasing the proportion of Americans with high-quality degrees, certificates and other credentials to 60 percent by 2025.
Recent surveys of students who left college prior to completing a credential or degree reveal that mental health challenges or stress are primary reasons why they discontinue their studies. Some learners opt to take a pause, withdrawing from the university for a semester or longer to prioritize their health and wellness. Others never return.
For those who do re-enroll, colleges and universities can pave a path for their success.
Extensive research and news coverage suggest that many college students don’t participate in class conversations for fear of being outed for their political beliefs.
In response, some college instructors are revisiting their teaching techniques to create ways to make classrooms safe spaces for students to discuss difficult topics. They’re ditching traditional discussion activities and looking to connect with their classes on a deeper level so students will feel comfortable speaking up.
According to the Consortium for Analysis of Student Success Through International Education, students who participate in study abroad programs are 6.2 percentage points more likely to graduate within four years and 3.8 percentage points more likely to graduate within six years compared to their non-study abroad peers. Additionally, these students tend to earn higher GPAs and accumulate more credit hours upon graduation.
On this podcast, the Institute for Shipboard Education's Scott Marshall explains why he calls the "Semester at Sea" study abroad effort a game changer when it comes to shaping students' careers and life paths.
What do you do with a major in French? Or philosophy, history, or English?
That is the question at the heart of all the challenges that now bedevil liberal arts departments on campuses across the country, a problem once dubbed the “translation chasm.” Finding a solution has ostensibly been the work of advisors and career counselors, scholarly associations, and professors themselves—to help students see how a major in the humanities can lead to a career while also bestowing all those “human skills” so coveted in the workplace and so necessary to run a democracy.
The transition from high school to higher education is often tumultuous, and students can face a unique disadvantage their first year. With so few credits banked, one or two negative final grades can tank their cumulative GPA and risk their academic standing.
Stony Brook University recently launched a pilot program to assist such students and saw promising results after just one semester. Leaders at the public New York institution presented their findings last week at the American Association of Colleges and Universities' annual conference.
When Ali-Ruza Torabi traveled to Washington, D.C., last week for the second inauguration of President Donald J. Trump, he was hoping to have meaningful conversations with Trump supporters who want him deported. Instead, he encountered distrust and silence.
Torabi, who is a recipient of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, lives in San Diego, where he plans to apply for his residency in family medicine. Now, however, he's worried those plans—and the hard work he's put in to get there—will all be lost under the Trump administration.
