Photo: Brian Ulrich

It is clear by now that the mental-health crisis has changed academia forever: its structures, its culture, and the function it is expected to perform in American society. 

Nowhere is this more apparent than at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, where a spate of suicides forced professors and administrators to become custodians of individual student wellness.

Interest is booming in community college in Massachusetts, due in part to a new state program designed to make higher education more affordable for residents 25 and older.

But while community college leaders are buoyed by the rise in enrollment, they're also concerned about the pressure it creates on their enrollment and financial aid departments. Many staff members are getting burned out, and some worry that could eventually impact the student experience.

Millions of Americans are paying down their student loans for the first time in years but with more repayment options than before.

Chief among them is President Joe Biden’s new income-driven repayment plan—Saving on a Valuable Education plan, commonly known as SAVE—which ties monthly payments to earnings and family size.